RUSSIA 

AT THE TIME OP 

THE C0E0XATI0N OF ALEXANDER II. 



A SERIES OF LETTERS ADDRESSED FROM MOSCOW AN 
ST. PETERSBURG TO THE "DAILY NEWS." 



EY 

JOHN MURPHY, 

SPECIAL CORRLSFONDEST OF THAT JOURNAL. 




LONDON : 

BRADBURY & EYANS, 11, BOTJTEBIE STREET 
1356. 



33678 



LONDON : 

BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WH1TEFRIARF. 




INTRODUCTION. 



The letters comprised in the following series are 
communications addressed by me, from Moscow and 
St. Petersburg, to the " Daily News," in my capacity 
of "Special Correspondent" at the coronation fetes 
of His Imperial Majesty Alexander the Second. 
They were written at periods of great excitement, 
and when the short space of time intervening between 
the termination of the festivity, and the departure 
of the mail, rendered anything in the way of literary 
composition a task of no mean difficulty. "What I 
saw I have endeavoured to describe ; and I believe 
that in the letters will be found tolerably faithful 
sketches of pageants, the record of which must 
henceforth form part of the history of Russia. The 
proprietors of the "Daily ]N T ews " have kindly per- 
mitted me to collect and revise them, and I have 
added some letters which, from one cause or 
another, had not been before published. Three of 



iv 



INTRODUCTION. 



them I kept back, deeming thein not sufficiently 
" coronation" letters to justify my intruding them on 
the hard-pressed columns of a morning newspaper ; 
and of the fourth and longest the transmitted copy 
miscarried through some neglect in one of the 
uumerous post-offices between St. Petersburg and 
London. I trust that, although not directly treating 
of the ceremonial, they will not be considered out of 
place, as the incidents described arose during the re- 
searches necessary for the main object of my journey. 

London, 
October 31, IS 56. 



CONTENTS. 



LETTER I. 

TTIE VOYAGE OUT. HAMBURG. — THE ST. JEAN d'aCRE.- 

CRONSTADT. — ST. PETERSBURG. THE PREPARATIONS 



LETTER II. 

ST. PETERSBURG. THE IZAK CHURCH. — THE WINTER PALACE. 

THE STATE-CARRIAGES 

LETTER III. 

THE PRESENTATION AT PETERHOFF. THE MUJIKS. — THE 

ISVODTSCHIKS. THE GREEK PRIESTS 



LETTER IY. 

(NOT BEFORE PUBLISHED.) 

THE NEVA. — THE ISLANDS. TSAl'SEO SELO. — THE EMPEROR'S 

BATTUE OF THE THIEVES 



LETTER Y. 

PRINCE ESTERHAZY'S HOUSE. — THE VISITORS. — THE BLESSING 
OF THE APPLES. — PETERHOFF PALACE .... 



LETTER VI. 

MOSCOW. — THE RAILWAY JOURNEY. — THE GRAND DUKE CON- 
STANTINE. FIRST IMPRESSION . 



LETTER YII. 

(NOT BEFORE PUBLISHED.) 
MOSCOW. — ITS HOTELS ; THEIR COMPANY. — MONSIEUR CHOLLET 



vi 



CONTEXTS. 



LETTER YIII. page 

SKETCH OP MOSCOW. — THE BOYARDS. THE PARADE OP THE 

GUARDS .48 

LETTER IX. 

THE EMPEROR'S PUBLIC ENTRY INTO MOSCOW ... 53 

LETTER X. 

REVIEW OF TROOPS. — RAILWAYS IN RUSSIA. PERFORMANCE 

AT THE GRAND OPERA ...... 04 

LETTER XI. 

THE PARADE OF THE TROOPS. — THE RECEPTION AT THE 

KREMLIN. THE PROCLAMATION 70 

LETTER XII. 

THE CROWNING OF THE EMPEROR 77 

LETTER XIII. 

THE ILLUMINATIONS . . . . . . . .87 

LETTER XIV. 

THE SPECTACLE GALA. THE LEYEE. — LORD WODEHOUSE's 

RECEPTION BY THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS. MOSCOW 

CANARDS 92 

LETTER XV. 

MOSCOW CANARDS. LORD GRANVILLE'S HOSPITALITY. — THE 

SHAM FIGHT . 98 

LETTER XVI. 

the merchants' dinner to the officers and soldiers. — 

lady granville's ball. — the scotch piper . .105 

LETTER XVII. 

THE " FESTIN DU PEUPLE " Ill 



CONTENTS. 



Vll 



LETTER XVIII. page 

THE PEOPLE'S BALL AT THE KREMLIN . . . .120 

LETTER XIX. 

lord granville's state ball . . . . . .124 

LETTER XX. 

THE RUSSIAN CHASSE 126 

LETTER XXI. 

CONCLUSION OF THE MOSCOW FETES. — THE FIREWORKS . . 128 

LETTER XXII. 

(NOT BEFORE PUBLISHED.) 

MOSCOW. THE ENGLISH RESIDENTS. THE ENGLISH CHURCH, 

ENGLISH GOVERNESSES. ENGLISH MANUFACTURES. — THE 

TRACTIR- RUSSIAN POLICY TOWARDS THE ENGLISH . .131 



LETTER XXIII. 

(NOT BEFORE PUBLISHED.) 
THE MOSCOW RAILWAY. — THE PASSPORTS. — THE POLITE GEN- 
TLEMAN AT COUNT ORLOFF'S. — WAIFS AND STRAYS. — THE 

MERCHANTS' DINNER. THE SERFS. POOR SKAIFFE'S 

STORY. DEPARTURE 140 



APPENDIX. 

THE PROGRAMME. 
CEREMONIAL CONFIRMED BY HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER 
NICOLAIEWITCH, AUTOCRAT OF ALL THE RUSSIAS, OF HIS SOLEMN 
ENTRY INTO THE CAPITAL OF MOSCOW, AND HIS CORONATION. 

PAGB 

I. — SOLEMN ENTRY . .157 

II. — PROCLAMATION OF THE CORONATION . . .160 

III. — DECORATION OF THE CATHEDRAL OF THE ASSUMPTION 161 

IV. — THE CORONATION CEREMONY . . . .162 



E U S S I A 

AT THE TIME OF 

THE CORONATION OF ALEXANDER II. 



LETTER I. 

THE VOYAGE OUT. HAMBURG. THE ST. JEAN I)' ACRE.- — CRONSTADT. 

— ST. PETERSBURG. — THE PREPARATIONS. 



St. Petersburg, August 11. 
Much as spectacle of every sort is prized and run 
after in England, it would be very difficult for even 
the most enthusiastic sight-seeker in the tight little 
island to realise the amount of excitement and expec- 
tation which the approaching coronation of the young 
Emperor of All the Russias is creating, not only through- 
out the length and breadth of his own vast empire, but 
in all the continental kingdoms to which his probable 
future conduct and career must be an object of vital 
interest. The promised gorgeousness of the show, the 
presence of the ambassadors extraordinary with their 
splendid retinues, the assemblage in the holy city of the 
various wild tribes that inhabit the more distant portions 
of the empire, the unparalleled military parade which is 
promised, have no doubt their influence in turning 
the gaze of all Europe towards Moscow ; but there are 
other and far weightier reasons why not only neighbour- 
ing nations, but, above all, the people of Russia itself, 
await with high hope and beating hearts the imposing 



2 



THE VOYAGE OUT. 



ceremonial which is to place the crown of Peter the Great 
on the brow of Alexander the Second. 

While there can be no doubt that the memory of the 
late emperor is held in all the reverence which the 
greatness of his character and the strong nationality of 
his feelings deserved, it is nevertheless felt that his 
mission was exhausted with his life, and the people now 
look forward with delight to a different state of things 
under the more tranquil rule of his successor. Like 
England and # France, Russia is sick of war, and she 
clutches all the more readily at the olive-branch, because 
conscious that the late struggle, whatever may have been 
its other results, leaves her military reputation in un- 
diminished lustre. The 6 c spirit-stirring drum, the ear- 
piercing fife," have now lost their charms for the honest 
Muscovites, and all the conversation in every circle is 
about railways, education, and peaceful internal develop- 
ment. The young Emperor is looked up to as the apostle 
of progress, and hence the unusual interest which is 
attached to his approaching coronation. 

Indications of this gratifying state of things became 
apparent to your Special Correspondent at a very early 
stage of his journey. Even on the passage from London 
to Hamburg I found many persons bound for Moscow, 
and every one had some anecdote to tell of the new 
Emperor's enlightened views and amiable disposition. 

Amongst other pilgrims to the holy city were two 
English clergymen, with their canonicals in their port- 
manteaus, attracted by an expectation, I cannot tell how 
founded, that, in the sacerdotal portion of the imperial pro- 
cession, room would be found for the recognised priests of 
every Christian denomination. It will be somewhat of a 
novelty in Russian ceremonial to see two clergymen of the 
Church of England " assisting " the Greek Metropolitan 
in one of the most important duties of his sacred office. 

At Hamburg we began to feel ourselves getting fairly 
into the vortex of the excitement. That beautiful city, 
which has literally risen like a phoenix from the ashes of 



HAMBURG, 



3 



its great fire, and is now a second Paris in architectural 
splendour, has for weeks been in a state of commotion 
with the constant succession of distinguished arrivals en 
route for the coronation. Few cities are better supplied 
with magnificent hotels, but they have been all crowded 
to overflowing, and their enthusiastic proprietors have 
shown their sympathy with the general Russo-mania by 
expanding their bills to truly imperial proportions. Even 
the humble drotschki-drivers have not been unmoved, but, 
on the contrary, became totally oblivious of all known 
schedules of fares, and improvised a new one which in 
their judgment was more worthy of the great occasion. 

The British Ambassador Extraordinary, Earl Granville, 
arrived in the "Free City" in a very unostentatious 
manner in the afternoon of Saturday week, taking up his 
temporary quarters at the Hotel de l'Europe — which I 
may mention, en passant, is the model of continental hotels 
— and started for Kiel the following evening, having in 
the morning attended divine service at the English church. 
It is to be hoped that his lordship found a moment in 
the intervals of his devotion to cast a glance at the 
rather dilapidated condition of the sacred edifice, with a 
view to some steps being taken at a future day towards 
making it more worthy of being one of the outposts of 
the wealthiest religious establishment in the world. The 
poor old church looks, indeed, desolate ; and but 
for a rather Romish-looking picture of the Virgin and 
Child over the communion-table, might be taken for an 
overgrown station-house, rather than a religious edifice. 
So sudden was his lordship's departure, that Lord Ward, 
one of the honorary attaches, was left behind, and was 
forced to follow in the Lubeck packet, in the wake of the 
majestic St. Jean d'Acre. The voyage of the embassy 
was, I learn, most prosperous, the gallant three-decker 
having considerately made all her bad weather before her 
arrival at Kiel, inclusive of a regular gale of wind in the 
Cattegat, during which she was obliged to part company 
with her tender. 



4 



THE ST. JEAN d'ACRE. 



The St. Jean d'Acre is truly a noble vessel, worthy to 
carry the Emperor himself, and with her Union Jack at 
the masthead, cuts a most respectable figure amid the 
Russian men-of-war at Cronstadt, which, I must add, 
are also splendid-looking ships, and, to the unpractised 
eye, seem to be in the most perfect possible condition. 
The St. Jean made her ten knots all down the gulf, and 
so smooth was the water that the sailors were able to 
perform a play for the amusement of the distinguished 
company on the quarter-deck, and one of artistic ten- 
dencies succeeded in taking all their likenesses in photo- 
graph. She arrived in the middle of the day on Friday, 
and the ambassador and suite were honoured with a 
salute of twenty-one guns from the fort. The Russian 
authorities were not slow in giving a proof of their 
courteous intentions towards the distinguished strangers, 
but took them on board one of the small steamers usually 
devoted to the service of the imperial family, while the 
British tender was left to follow at her leisure. The 
Lubeck packet came in almost immediately after, and 
thus the temporarily separated portions of the embassy 
were again brought together. I consider myself fortunate 
in having chosen this same conveyance, as the Neva, 
which bears the not very foreign inscription of c ' Scott, 
Greenock " on her companion, is a remarkably fine vessel, 
having excellent state-rooms, a good table, and one of 
the most polite, careful, and attentive captains it has 
ever been my lot to travel with. From the moment we 
approached the Gulf of Finland he never left his post for 
a moment, — answering a special invitation to the cabin 
by reminding the passengers that it was just at the 
moment when the captain went down to dinner that the 
Neptune was lost, on one of those treacherous places 
with which the Gulf of Finland abounds. Our British 
tars will not, I am sure, grudge this passing compliment 
to Captain Kroger, his fine ship Neva, and his steady, 
sober, well-behaved Lubeck crew. 

If there had been previously any doubt as to the 



CRONSTADT. 



6 



interest attaching to the approaching festivities, a glance 
at the cabin of the Neva would have at once dissipated 
the illusion. Hound its dinner-table might be seen one 
of the wealthiest representatives of the British peerage, 
specially accredited to the coronation ; a Russian princess 
hurrying home from a German watering-place ; a General 
du Genie, summoned from Marienbad to Moscow to 
superintend the preparation of the feux-d' artifice ; 
Parisian modistes full of grand ideas on the all-important 
subject of costume ; the representative of a London 
newspaper ; and several wealthy Russians of the merchant 
class, who were in one way or other to take part in the 
grand affair. Even the fore part of the vessel was not 
without its indications that something was on the tapis 
which was likely to gather the fashionable world into 
Moscow, for an enterprising Frenchman had almost filled 
it with a speculation of parrots and monkeys, whose ani- 
mated and continuous discussions left the Russian portion 
of the passengers no cause for regretting the deliberative 
assemblies of Western Europe. 

The omnipresent "Murray" has of course exhausted 
the quiet scenery of the Trave, the smug neatness of 
Travemund, the islands in the Baltic, and the "features" 
of the gulf ; but about Cronstadt events have occurred 
since "Murray" was written which leave room for one 
or two observations. Of course, when we approached 
that world-renowned chain of marine fortresses, every 
one rushed upon deck, and spy-glasses were in instant 
requisition, and eager questions were asked about the 
famous place that had laughed at the fleets of two great 
nations, and at which British admirals had contented 
themselves with looking at the longest possible range. 
I must confess that at first the general feeling was one of 
surprise, and every one asked his neighbour, Are these 
the forts before which Napier hesitated, and which 
Dundas declined to attack ? We saw three stone forts 
standing at long distances across the harbour, which 
appeared to us not much larger than Martello towers, 



6 



CXtONSTADT. 



and each armed with three tiers of only twelve guns. 
Seaward there appeared a broad expanse of water, in 
which a large fleet might manoeuvre ; and to the north 
the channel which Admiral Napier himself discovered, 
and of which, up to that time, even the Russians had 
no idea. 

To unprofessional eyes it appeared that the prudence 
must have been great which prevented the attack on 
Cronstadt in the early part of the war. It is, however, 
only fair to add that the naval and military men on 
board were of a different opinion, the former pointing 
out that although the seeming expanse of water was 
broad, the real channel was exceedingly narrow, and the 
latter — amongst them was an Italian officer who had 
served in the defence of Rome — averring that a hostile 
fleet going up in twos and threes would inevitably be 
sunk the moment they came within range of the guns. 
My own opinion halted about midway between these two 
views. I believe that if the attack had been made early, 
a few ships might perhaps have been lost, but that the 
remainder would have given a good account of the 
fortress, while later, so completely was every defect 
supplied, so strong had every point become, that an 
attack would have been little short of madness. I 
believe that among other precautions the whole of the 
newly discovered north channel has been filled up with 
huge stones under the personal inspection of the Grand 
Duke Constantine. Happily such discussions are now little 
more than idle gossip. We hope it may be long before 
we engage in any struggle with Russia other than friendly 
rivalry, but it would have been impossible to pass 
Cronstadt without a few last words on a subject which 
has so recently engrossed the public attention of half the 
world. 

In due time we arrived at St. Petersburg, and had a 
foretaste of the improved regime which every one here 
hopes for, in the great courtesy and forbearance of the 
Custom-house officers, who to my great surprise were 



ST. PETERSBURG. THE PREPARATIONS. 7 

perfect lambs in comparison with, the stern functionaries 
of Dover or Folkestone. They did not even open the 
books in my portmanteau, although the word c ' Russia " 
appeared conspicuously on the backs of every one of 
them. It is generally understood that this is only part 
of the new system, and that the new Emperor contem- 
plates even more startling innovations than this satisfac- 
tory relaxation of the rules of the Douane. One little 
instance I may mention, as the straw showing which way 
the wind blows. In the late Emperor's time smoking in 
the streets was strictly prohibited, but shortly after the 
accession of the present, his Imperial Majesty was himself 
seen smoking along the quays — a quiet hint that the 
" counterblast " had been allowed to die out of itself. As 
soon as the Customs and passport preliminaries were 
over, and I was at liberty to make enquiries, I found 
that St. Petersburg is determined to rival Moscow in 
the splendour of its coronation-fetes. The Americans 
have undertaken to illuminate the " Nevskoi Prospekt," 
the Regent-street of the North ; the English take the 
Admiralty- square ; and the other foreign factories are 
also selecting portions upon which they may exhaust 
their decorative taste in honour of the new Emperor. 

The Russian commercial community have, I am in- 
formed, volunteered to illuminate the Moscow Railway, 
four hundred miles from end to end, for the Emperor's 
journey to and fro ; and the quantity of fireworks in 
preparation is stated to be almost incredible. From 
Moscow the note of preparation returns with a portentous 
echo. The walls of the Kremlin are being studded with 
lamps, and millions of roubles are spoken of as the sums 
allotted by the high nobility for their fetes and decorations. 
The public entry still stands for the 22nd, and the coro- 
nation for the 7th September, between which dates it is 
understood the Emperor and family will spend some days 
en retraite, according to the usage of the Greek Church. 
After the coronation will be the grand review, the people's 
banquet, the fireworks, and the fetes; and about a fort- 



8 ST. PETERSBURG. 

night it is expected will restore Moscow to its normal 
state of tranquillity. 



LETTER U. 

ST. PETERSBURG. THE IZAK CHURCH. — THE WINTER PALACE. 

THE STATE-CARRIAGES. 



St. Petersburg, August 13. 
The Stettin boat, which arrived yesterday (Tuesday), 
brought up an immense contingent of electors, grand 
dukes, princes, and princesses, ail en route for Moscow, 
to take part in, or be witnesses of, the approaching 
august ceremonial. The packet, which had never previ- 
ously had more than 100 passengers, was on this occasion 
obliged to accommodate 210, and the consequence was, 
that princes and counts — of I don't know how many 
quart erings — -were obliged to quarter themselves as they 
best could, — some lying on the tables — others upon them, 
and a great many "camping out" on deck, and getting 
sea-sick, like their untitled neighbours, in the most 
undignified manner possible. They were all turned out on 
the 6 6 English Quay " at about five o'clock p. m. , and were 
soon whirling away, in various directions, in those hand- 
some but peculiar vehicles that give such life and 
picturesqueness to the banks of the Neva. If report 
speaks truly, very few of them will be witnesses of the 
actual crowning, as the Church of the Assumption — in 
which the ceremonial is to take place — is but a small 
one, while the numbers who hope for admission may be 
reckoned by thousands. I am informed that so great is 
the pressure on the space, that open-air galleries have 
been erected over the portico of the church, from which 
princes, of very high degree indeed, must be content with 
a passing glance at his Imperial Majesty as he enters the 
cathedral. Indeed, from all I can learn, Moscow has 



THE IZAK CHURCH. 



9 



little beyond its historical association to recommend it as 
the scene of an imperial pageant. Every one here says : 
Why not take St. Petersburg, the beautiful, the city of 
palaces, in which everything is on a scale of colossal 
grandeur, which has its Champ de Mars, in which 
150,000 men may be, with ease, reviewed ; its Admiralty- 
square, to cross which is a half-hour's walk ; its unrivalled 
Izak Church for the sacred ceremonies, and its wonderful 
Winter Palace for the imperial festivities ? 

Through the interest of an influential English friend, 
I have been indulged with a minute inspection of both 
these edifices, and must freely admit that all I had pre- 
viously witnessed in the way of ecclesiastical or palatial 
magnificence, fell short, indeed, of their brilliant realities. 
The Izak Church stands in the best situation even in this 
city of fine sites, and, although yet unfinished, is still 
far enough advanced to be made suitable, with a little 
exertion, for the occasion. 

You can, of course, learn from the Hand-book that this 
yet unfinished church was commenced by the great 
Catherine, that its form is that of the Greek cross, 
and that its magnificent porticoes are sustained by 
immense columns composed of single blocks of Finland 
granite polished till it looks like porphyry, and orna- 
mented with capitals of solid bronze. But Murray's last 
book on Russia was published in 1849, and since that 
time the Izak Church has made great progress, as well as 
the rest of the world. Since that time M. Montr errand, 
the French architect, has worked steadily and well, and 
has been ably seconded in the decorative portions by the 
skilful artists of the " English Magazin," to whom much 
of the costly bronze- work was entrusted. The interior 
of the church is now absolutely oppressive in its magni- 
ficence. The concave of the superb dome is covered with 
gilding and frescoes, and below there is not a corner in 
which the gaze is not arrested by a malachite column, a 
priceless mosaic, or some ornament in bronze or ormolu 
of the most elaborate workmanship. It is impossible 



10 



THE WINTER PALACE. 



adequately to describe the sensations of the spectator 
when standing under the great dome ; as his eye wanders 
through the " dim religious light/ 5 which is studiously 
preserved, over the gilding, the colour, the form, and the 
dimensions of this gorgeous church, so Oriental in its 
splendour, so solemn in its effect, so typical at once of 
the boundless resources and the earnest piety of succes- 
sive Russian sovereigns. It is to be finished in 1859, and 
its consecration is to take place on the day on which the 
monument of the late Emperor is to be inaugurated ; but, 
as I have before observed, there would be little difficulty 
in fitting it for the present coronation. 

To the great cathedral the "Winter Palace" forms a 
striking contrast ; in the one place, the sombre senti- 
ment of Byzantine architecture peivades everything ; in 
the other, all is gay, splendid, festive, and imperial. It 
is like an acted fairy tale, to wander from saloons, heavy 
with burnished gold, into the halls of the finest Carrara 
marble, and draped in the latest Parisian taste. Here, in 
a well-lighted picture-gallery, may be recognised the 
lineaments of all the brave soldiers who have helped to 
build up the greatness of the ."Russian empire ; there, you 
are almost startled with the singular elegance of an 
imperial boudoir with its tables of priceless mosaic, 
■ — its vases of jasper and lapis lazuli — its silver cadeaux, 
and its thousand and one details of luxury and refine- 
ment. 

Dining-halls, ball-rooms, salles de reception, follow in 
almost interminable succession, until, at last, the eye rests 
almost with a sensation of relief on the little postern 
through which you are at last to emerge from all this 
magnificence. What a place for coronation festivities ! 
was the almost involuntary reflection, while wandering 
through these world-famous " marble halls.' 5 But, after 
all, the most intrinsically valuable and, at the same 
time, interesting, feature in the wonders of the Winter 
Palace, is the little chamber in which two bronze veterans 
guard the imperial jewels. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, 



THE STATE-CARRIAGES. 



11 



sapphires — enough, to fill Sinbad's valley — are here to be 
found in rich profusion, side by side, with the antique 
watches of successive emperors and empresses, — • the 
aigrette of Suvaroff, and the barbaric trophies of Persian 
and Turkish conquests. The veteran guardians of all 
these treasures recounted their separate histories in un- 
exceptionable Sclavonic ; but it is to be feared that the 
visitors were more indebted to their gesticulations than 
their oratory for whatever amount of information they 
brought away from the cabinet. The Winter Palace has 
been the scene of many an imperial festival, and none can 
be more fitting for coronation-fetes. For one portion of 
the pageant, however, Moscow is, I understand, well 
adapted, and that is the procession, at the head of 
which the young Emperor is to enter the holy city. 
From the Petrovski Palace to the Kremlin is about five 
miles, and there is plenty of room all the way for the 
immense cortege. 

Of the splendour of the cortege I have already had a 
foretaste, in a preliminary inspection of the coronation- 
carriages, to which I was obligingly admitted by Mr. 
Bannister, the English superintendent of the imperial 
66 Fabrik." These carriages, which are of the newest and 
most excellent designs, and thirty in number, have all 
been got up in the short space of four months. They 
would rather astonish our insular homeliness of taste, 
being literally one mass of highly burnished gilding, and 
the linings and hammercloths of the richest Genoa velvet 
heavily embroidered in the same precious material. The 
embroidery, which is the work of the Greek nuns, is of 
the most exquisite design and finish, and, although only 
needlework, is as hard and solid as a metal casting. The 
trappings are of red morocco leather, almost hidden in 
gold, and gemmed in every part on which we put metal 
bosses. The effect is almost Oriental ; but it must be 
remembered, that the Russians are an Asiatic race, and 
that without "barbaric pearl and gold" it would be 
difficult to satisfy their notions of what was fit and 



12 



THE STATE-CARRIAGES. 



proper for great occasions. But the gem of the collection 
is an antique open carriage of English workmanship, npon 
which the skill of Grinling Gibbons is displayed in some 
of the finest wood carving. Behind are two statuette 
groups of St. George and the Dragon, which have a free- 
dom and motion that even Kiss has not attained in hia 
much-praised work in bronze — the Amazon and Tiger. 
All round the carriage runs the most beautiful and 
delicately carved foliage ; while, on the panels, a French 
painter has endeavoured to emulate, in colour, the 
carved flowers of the great English workman. I am 
informed that his Imperial Majesty was particularly 
struck with the beauty of this carriage, and insisted on 
having it re-burnished and prepared for the procession. 

Turning from all these grand preparations to affairs 
of a more every-day character, I may mention that 
St. Petersburg has been recently very much amused and 
puzzled by the sudden visit of Sir Charles Napier, and 
his equally sudden departure. The gallant admiral was 
treated with much condescension by the Grand Duke 
Constantine, and was, I believe, invited to a naval 
review, but he departed suddenly on receipt of letters 
from England. Many characteristic anecdotes are told 
of him, especially as to the way in which he parried some 
good-humoured taunts respecting his celebrated boast 
about the capture of Cronstadt — a boast which, by the 
way, he never made. I, who was present at the dinner 
given to him at the Reform Club, at which it is alleged 
to have been uttered, can testify that the gallant admiral 
indulged in no braggadocio, but was particularly cautious 
and reserved in his expressions and promises. It is said 
that when an illustiious personage asked him, " Why he 
didn't come in to Cronstadt ?" the retort courteous of the 
old " Salt " was, "Why didn't you come out?" On 
another day he visited a Greek convent, where he was 
introduced as "Mr. Napier." One of the young lady 
pupils hearing the name, timidly inquired, whether he 
was any relative of the terrible admiral who was to have 



ST. PETERSBURG, 



13 



taken Cronstadt ; and his answer was, cc No relation at 
all, miss, I am the man himself." I select these two out 
of abont a dozen that are flying about respecting the 
veteran of Acre, without Touching for their accuracy, but 
at the same time being strongly impressed with their 
vraisemhlance. The official journal as yet contains no 
positive news about the coronation, but I believe the dates 
will be — Departure from St. Petersburg, August 26th; 
public entry, 29th ; coronation, September 7th. It is 
remarkable that even the official programme contains 
nothing about the day. 



LETTEB III. 

THE PRESENTATION AT PETERHOFF. — THE MUJIKS. — THE 
ISTODSTCHIKS. — THE GREEK PRIESTS. 

* 

St. Petersburg, August 15. 

The date at which I am at present writing, which is 
the 3rd of August, Russian time, brings the preliminary 
proceedings of all the special embassies pretty well to a 
close, at least in as far as the modern capital of Russia is 
concerned. Early next week, special ambassadors and 
all other specialties connected in any way with the grand 
affair will take their departure from the city of Peter the 
Great, and locate themselves, for a few busy weeks, in 
the more ancient capital in which so much of the early his- 
tory of the empire was enacted. If Rurik, or Ivan the Ter- 
rible, or Boris GudunofT could rise out of their graves, they 
would probably be somewhat surprised to see the arrival of 
the special trains which are to convey the foreign notabilities 
to the scene of the splendid pageant in which they are to 
play so conspicuous a part. Those Sclavonic worthies, 
who looked for no invasion save those of the Tartars 
whom their successors now hold in such complete sub- 
jection, would gaze with no small astonishment at the 



14 



ST. PETERSBURG. 



dragon of steam as it came puffing, snorting, and roaring 
to the station, and dragging along in its wake somewhere 
about five hundred persons of high and low degree, 
attracted from distant quarters of the world to " assist ;? 
at the solemn inauguration of the present Emperor in the 
government of his vast dominions. They will storm the 
holy city as eagerly as ever did the Tartars, but they will 
be valiantly met by the innkeepers, who, if they cannot 
eject them summarily, are deteiToined to make them pay 
dear for their prolonged sojourn. 

But not in Moscow alone is the working of this fine 
instinct of nationality perceptible in the conduct of the 
Russian Boniface. Petersburg is little behindhand — a 
fact of which, if report speaks truly, the special ambassa- 
dors have had the most conclusive indications. Already 
Lord Granville's parliamentary grant shows painful sym- 
ptoms of attenuation ; but his lordship must take com- 
fort in the conviction that, whenevera Russian special 
ambassador comes to London, the patriotism of British 
innkeepers will give him a noble revenge. In short, 
there is nothing more remarkable in the history of the 
world than the uniformity of action that marks the 
conduct of hotel-keepers and cabmen on those portions of 
its surface upon which the progress of civilisation has 
given them a locus standi. Everywhere they look upon 
the traveller as an mvading enemy, and " charge " him 
with a vigour that is generally sure to make him beat an 
early retreat. 

The Count de Morny has, I believe, saved himself the 
pangs of petty extortion, by buying everything on a 
grand scale, even to the steamboat that takes him up and 
down the river, and by renting the great Woronzoff 
Palace, which may be seen every day surrounded by 
splendid equipages, and every night blazing with lights, 
to the great admiration of the Russian police, who walk 
demurely up and down the waterside of the Xeva. His 
Excellency was early in presenting his credentials, and 
Prince Paul Esterhazy — " Diamond w Esterhazy, as he is 



THE PRESENTATION AT PETEEHOFF. 



15 



called, — wished to follow closely on his heels, but unfor- 
tunately he had left those important documents behind 
him at Vienna, and he was inexorably refused a presenta- 
tion until they had arrived. Our own special embassy 
had its turn yesterday, under circumstances calculated to 
give the British people and their representative entire 
satisfaction. They went down to PeterhofF, the beautiful 
summer palace of the Czars, in the Princess Alice, and 
were received at the landing-place by some of the high 
officers of the Court. Imperial carriages were in attend- 
ance to convey them in the first instance to the English 
palace, where they found an elegant luncheon prepared 
for them, and every convenience for making their Court 
toilettes, They were then conveyed to the Imperial 
Palace, where, in the first instance, Lord Granville was 
presented to the Emperor at a private audience of some 
duration, after which his lordship presented, in succes- 
sion, all the members of his embassy. The Emperor 
was, I understand, all cordiality and condescension, 
frequently addressing the persons present in the English 
and French languages. His Imperial Majesty's deport- 
ment is spoken of in terms of high admiration by every 
one who had the honour of a presentation. Subsequently 
Lady Granville was presented to the Empress, and in her 
turn presented the ladies of her suite, the Marchioness of 
Stafford, Lady Emily Peel, and Lady Margaret Leveson 
Gower. Char-a-bancs were in waiting, into which the 
whole party got at the termination of the ceremonial, and 
a drive round the beautiful grounds of Peterhoff filled up 
the time until dinner, which, like the breakfast, was pre- 
pared at the English Palace. At this banquet several of 
the high officers of the Court were present, amongst whom 
the son of Count Xesselrode was active in discharging the 
duties of hospitality to the distinguished guests. At 
eleven o'clock the whole party were safely conveyed to 
town in the Princess Alice, being the first time that the 
voyage has been performed at that late hour by a vessel 
of her tonnage. 



16 



THE NEVSKOI. 



So ended a very pleasant day for the British Embassy, 
and at the same time terminated the St. Petersburg 
portion of their mission, leaving them nothing to do but 
settle M. Dimoute's little bill, pack up their portman- 
teaus, and proceed early next week by special train to 
Moscow. To-day (Friday) was a grand field-day with 
our Gallic allies. Being the fete-day of the Emperor 
jSTapoleon, a solemn Te Deum was celebrated at the 
Boinan Catholic church of St. Catherine, at which all the 
French in St. Petersburg were invited to attend. The 
church, which is situated about midway down the JNTevskoi 
Prospekt, and is rather an unpretending edifice, was of 
course crowded, and a great number of people formed as 
contracted a semicircle as the gens-d'armes would permit 
in the street outside. Count de Moray's carriages, with 
their fine English horses, made a splendid show, and 
elicited frequent ejaculations from the "Mujiks," which, 
I regret to add, were not particularly intelligible to your 
special correspondent. Lord Granville accompanied his 
French colleague, but not in state, as all the carriages 
' c de Parade " have already been sent off to Moscow. 

The scene was altogether both imposing and brilliant. 
The French congregation was unusually sedate and atten- 
tive ; the French uniforms and decorations had all the 
freshness of the empire, and the spot in which the church 
is situated is the finest in St. Petersburg, being the centre 
of the finest street in the world. At the conclusion of 
the service I strolled down the whole length of the 
"Nevskoi" to the terminus of the Moscow Bailway, and 
was perfectly astounded at its extent, the noble propor- 
tions and elaborate decorations of the houses, and the 
abundance and richness of the goods displayed in the 
various magasins. There are fully three miles of palaces 
and palatial shops, while the flagways and the road 
present a never-ending variety of business, bustle, and 
excitement. As you stroll along, a pale Circassian of the 
Caucasus passes you in the peculiar costume of his 
country. You pause to admire, and think of Schamyl 



THE ISVODSTCHIKS. 



17 



and his brave mountaineers, but lie takes out a cambric 
handkerchief to wipe his face, and lights a paper cigar, 
and the romance is in a moment destroyed. You turn 
suddenly, and are immediately jostled by two magnificent 
Persians in their high conical caps and long robes of 
some costly Eastern material, and involuntarily quote 
Tennyson — " Oiled and curled like the Assyrian Bull" — 
as you gaze on their Ninevite physiognomies and imposing 
beards twisted into innumerable ebony corkscrews. Next 
comes a group of Russian officers, fine young fellows, 
nearly all over six feet, with delicate — almost English 
features, and wearing their long and somewhat ungraceful 
grey coats with commendable resignation. I must say 
in passing, that I have frequently had to thank those 
gentlemen for the ready courtesy and politeness with 
which they invariably answered those inquiries which a 
stranger is obliged to make in getting through a large 
city for the first time. They all speak French, and many 
of them English, and are ready to assist you in any little 
perplexity that may arise in your peregrinations. The 
poor Mujiks are, I believe, equally willing to oblige, but 
to ask them a question only exposes you to a torrent of 
fervent Sclavonic, accompanied by the wildest gesticu- 
lations, and sometimes an extempore hornpipe, while the 
result is not of any very considerable assistance to your 
own organ of locality. I have watched these men with 
much interest and curiosity since my arrival in Russia, 
and have invariably observed them to be tali and strong, 
seemingly in good physical condition, and having honest 
and open, though riot always very intelligent countenances. 
The universal yellow beard gives them a great air of 
manliness, and the manner in which they perform their 
work, which is often severe, indicates the possession of 
considerable muscular strength. The 6i Isvodstchiks," 
the Russian equivalent for cabmen, are the finest 
charioteers in the world. To see them urging their high- 
mettled Cossack horses along the Xevskoi, you would 
fancy the Olympic games were being enacted over again, 

c 



18 



THE GREEK PRIESTS. 



so rapid is their pace, so great the dexterity with which 
they dart in and out and over all obstacles. It is true 
that sometimes they leave an unaccustomed traveller 
behind them on the wooden pavement, but they generally 
find it out, and come back for him, giving him at the 
same time a caution to hold harder when next he rides in 
a drotschki. There were lots of them strolling in the 
Nevskoi to-day, and they seemed very jolly and contented. 

A funeral next attracted my attention. The coffin was 
borne on a low carriage, decorated with the usual trap- 
pings, and was preceded by mutes in cocked hats, and 
each bearing a light enclosed in what looked very like a 
miniature street lamp. Greek priests followed, two and 
two, and looked exceedingly venerable in their sacerdotal 
robes, and long flowing beards. They are generally tall 
and handsome men, and are studiously graceful and 
stately in the performance of their religious rites. How- 
ever, as I shall no doubt have better opportunities of 
observing them at Moscow, 1 shall not permit their 
peculiarities further to elongate the present letter. 



LETTER IV. 

(not before published.) 

the neva. — the islands. tsabsko selo. the empebob's 

battue of the thieves. 

St. Petebsbubg, August 17. 
The presentations having all terminated, and the am- 
bassadors and their suites being all in the agonies of 
packing up, there is a sort of interregnum in the corona- 
tion business, at least in as far as the outsiders are con- 
cerned, and I think I cannot better fill it up than by 
taking a passing glance at some of the "Lions" of the 
northern capital, which I have visited during my so- 
journ. The hotel at which I stop is situated on the 



THE NEVA. — THE NICHOLAS BRIPGE, 19 

English Quay, and from its balcony may be obtained one 
of the finest city-views in the world. In front runs 
placidly the blue Neva whose clear waters often tempt 
the unwary traveller to draughts which terribly derange 
his digestive functions, and upon whose broad bosom, 
large and small steamers, caique-like boats, and strange 
looking barges are constantly passing up and down. One 
of them, covered with a complete mountain of wood, has 
"just been moored opposite my window. A landing-place 
has been improvised by pushing an immense stone out 
)f the loosely constructed quay- wall, and the pious crew 
are all grouped on the forecastle and are commencing 
their humble breakfast, according to their invariable 
custom, with prayer. It is quite touching to see these 
rough, hirsute men, clad in sheepskin, how reverently 
they kneel, and how devoutly they cross themselves be- 
fore they venture to touch a meal, which after all is 
nothing but black bread and water. I verily believe 
that the Russian peasantry are the most earnestly devout 
people in the world, about one-fifth of their waking-time 
being passed in crossings and genuflexions, which would 
be grotesque, but for the evidently real religious senti- 
ment that inspires them. A government steamer now 
passes up the stream, and a marine clad all in white 
paces the little quarter-deck. He sees the men of the 
barge at their devotions, and even Russian discipline 
relaxes while he makes a sympathetic sign of the cross 
in company. My eye follows in the wake of the graceful 
vessel, and soon alights on the noble bridge of St. 
Nicholas, over which a black human current is con- 
stantly passing to and fro. At the farther end, right in 
the centre of the roadway, is the shrine of the saint, in 
the interior of which is his picture ; and the coffin of the 
Prophet at Mecca has not a more constant or reverent 
crowd of worshippers. There are young girls, sedate 
matrons, cuirassiers armed to the teeth, Mujiks green 
and blue, men in broadcloth, and ladies in brocades, all 
bobbing, crossing, and praying in wrapt devotion, wholly 

c 2 



20 



THE ISLANDS. VILLA TRUBETZKOY. 



unmindful of the infidel Asiatics who pass with a sarcastic 
smile, or the square-built Englishman who honours them 
with his peculiar, placid stare. A clergyman of the Church 
of England, who stood by my side as I watched the 
proceedings through a glass, made an observation, which 
I think is worth preserving. 

" This may be superstition," he said, " but there is 
one thing about these Russians that I like, and that is, 
that none of them, high or low, are ashamed of their 
religion. Whatever it ordains they practise before men 
without fear or hesitation, and their tolerance is equal to 
their moral courage. In many countries such imperti- 
nent gazers as we now see on the Nicholas Bridge, would 
soon be insulted by the devotees." I was struck with this 
observation of my reverend companion, and had subse- 
quently, more than once, reason to subscribe to its justice. 

I have devoted one of my spare days, lately, to a 
journey over this bridge, and into the enchanted region 
of the Islands, which imperial wealth and taste have 
rescued from the swamps of the Neva. A rapid drive 
through Yassiliostroff, which may be called the English 
quarter, being principally occupied by English families, 
or people of English descent, brought us into a complete 
labyrinth of green lanes and " oak openings," through 
whose verdant vistas might be discerned the summer 
palaces of the Russian nobility, and the handsome 
country-houses of the Petersburg merchants. One of 
the handsomest of these residences is the Yilla of the 
Princess Trubetskoy, a lady of immense wealth, and 
who, it is said, has allotted a million of silver roubles for 
her coronation expenses at Moscow. It was sunset when 
our carriage arrived at her park-gate, and I was some- 
what surprised to find the whole road blocked up with 
vehicles of various kinds, as if some grand gathering had 
taken place. I was soon enlightened, however, by the 
information that the Princess, once in every week, 
throws her beautiful grounds open to all comers ; and, 
still better, provides an excellent band at her own 



THE ISLAXDS. 



21 



expense for their amusement. She has had several soirees 
since the arrival of the embassies, and has been profuse 
in her invitations to the officers of the St. Jean D'Acre, 
whose blue and gold uniforms have become quite popular 
in St. Petersburg. Nothing can be more genuine than 
the polite hospitality of the noble hostess on these occa- 
sions, but I believe that the younger officers find the 
Russian ball-room etiquette rather formal for their tastes. 
One gay lieutenant complained to me that no sooner had 
he got " under- weigh " with a charming partner in a 
delightful waltz, than he was obliged to hand her over to 
another, the custom here being that you only dance once 
round the room with the same lady. This equalises the 
distribution of partners when ladies are scarce, but it is 
certainly rather hard on a dashing young lieutenant just 
as he has got " suited to his mind." 

"When we had satisfied ourselves with a careful inspec- 
tion of the Villa Trubetskoy and its beautiful grounds, 
and listened to a fine overture by the band, the hospitable 
friend, in a corner of whose comfortable carriage I had 
travelled thus far, proposed that we should still further 
explore this truly sylvan country, and finish by a visit 
to the little snuggery in which he himself was wont to 
brush away the cares of business and town life, and 
smoke a mild cigar in the cool of the evening. On we 
went at a rattling pace, down grassy avenues, over which 
huge trees made an almost impervious roof, across rustic 
bridges spanning sparkling sheets of the clearest water, 
upon which the newly arisen moon was just beginning to 
cast her silver sheen. We passed several groups of rough 
looking peasants as we drove rapidly along, and often I 
feared that the reckless Jehu would run down some of 
the poor people, whom, albeit of his own order and 
condition, he seemed to hold in the most sovereign 
contempt. 

In close imitation of our London cabmen, he never 
called out until his horses' noses were touching the Mujik 
shoulders, and then he favoured them with a volley of 



22 



THE ISLANDS. 



abuse in vigorous Sclavonic, if he did not think they 
were sufficiently alert in getting out of his way. All 
these proceedings made me, I confess, a little fidgety, 
because I had been previously informed that the penalty 
for running over foot-passengers in Russia was, Siberia 
for the coachman, confiscation for the carriage and horses, 
and heavy penalties for the inside passengers. I knew, 
therefore, that if we should be so unlucky as to overturn 
any of these peaceful pilgrims, coachee would start off 
as if all St. Petersburg was at his heels, and realise 
for us the sensations of Mazeppa on his wild horse, rather 
than be caught in the fact. Seeing that it was now night- 
time, that the water alternated at about every fifty yards 
with the land, that the bridges were narrow and of frail 
construction, and that our horses were steeds of the 
Ukraine, who possibly had been transferred from the 
steppe to the stable without much intermediate training, 
the prospect of a race with the knout in perspective 
was certainly by no means tranquillising to an English- 
man, who some three weeks before had been walking 
peaceably down the Strand, and whose most exciting 
race had been an effort to catch the Kennington 'bus. 

But we got safe through, thank Heaven ! and were 
soon comfortably seated in an extremely odd-looking 
Alpine sort of cottage, the ground floor of which was 
occupied by a German family, and the upper storey, which 
overspread it like an immense umbrella, formed the 
summer retreat of my friend. An odd company, con- 
sisting of an Englishman and an Irishman, an Italian 
and an Anglo-Russian, i. e. a Russian of English descent, 
were soon seated round a table on which were spread in 
abundance the substantialities of English and the rari- 
ties of Russian fare. The strangers were, of course, 
anxious to begin with the caviare ; which, however, in 
consequence of the time of year, could only be had in 
its preserved form, and appeared to me, very like paste- 
blacking soaked in vinegar. My Italian friend, however, 
went at it with all the gusto of an enthusiast ; and I 



THE ISLANDS. A RUSSIAN li NIGHTCAP." 23 

may add here, subsequently paid the penalty of his epi- 
curism in an attack of cholera, which nearly ended all 
his earthly troubles. But then we had the real veritable 
Clicquot, "Veuve" Clicquot, in the quiet-looking, 
clumsy orthodox bottles, with the fragments of ice stick- 
ing to their burly sides, and their black leather cravats 
slung jauntily round their slender necks. I tasted, and 
ceased to wonder at the infatuation of Prussia's monarch, 
for truly it is the only modern realisation of the mythic 
nectar. We know little of it in England, for there are 
few English wine-merchants on the venerable widow's 
list, and beyond that list there is not a single bottle to 
be had for love or money. The true Clicquot is of a 
bright golden colour, rich rather than sweet in flavour, 
and " brisk " to the outside edge of vinous vivacity. 
When served in a clear bell-shaped glass, with a hollow 
stem, up which the bubbles mount in a never-ending column 
of diamonds, it is a picture to look at, the taste can only 
be judged of by actual experiment. Another property 
of the genuine liquid is, that it never makes you ill, 
however copious may have been your libations, so that 
there is not a single blemish to abate the imperial pre- 
eminence of this Czar of the wine-cellar. 

While we were thus making ourselves comfortable 
with all the good things which a most liberal hospi- 
tality had collected for our refection, the weather sud- 
denly changed, the thunder began to peal overhead, the 
rain came down in torrents, and we all at once remem- 
bered the poor Isvodstchik, whom we had left with the 
horses outside. To call him in was our next impulse, 
but previously our Anglo-Russian friend, who knew his 
countryman's palate, undertook to prepare him a 6 6 night- 
cap." I must confess, that some reminiscences of a cer- 
tain brewage that takes place in the first act of Macbeth 
crossed my mind, as I saw my friend collect all the half- 
emptied glasses and pour their contents successively into 
one large sugar-basin. Down went Clicquot, then brandy, 
then Scotch ale, then London porter, then " Tschai," then 



24 



TZARSKO SELO. 



Cassellet's Moscow entire, then pepper and mustard, and, 
lastly, some highly acidulated lemonade, as he said, 
"just to give it a flavour." I trembled as I watched our 
grim-looking coachman clear away his matted beard from 
his lips, and with his two hands raise this portentous 
beverage to his head. But my alarm was perfectly un- 
necessary. In one long draught he finished the bowl, 
and the sigh of satisfaction he gave as he placed his hand 
on his heart, or some neighbouring region, when he had 
done, showed how well the caterer had gauged the palate 
of the guest. I verily believe that if we could have 
reduced the caviare, and cold beef, and Indian pickles to 
a liquid form, he would have been only too happy to 
toast our health in a second libation. The style in which 
he rattled us home again afforded ample proof, of how 
well " the mixture " had suited his constitution. As we 
whisked rapidly along, the sentinels at the various guard- 
houses shouted " Who goes there !" in the language, and 
with the lungs of Thor, to which the English travellers 
answered in their own vernacular, selecting some rather 
strong expressions from the insular vocabulary, which, 
however, seemed to be entirely satisfactory to the Rus- 
sian soldiers, who let us continue our journey without 
further molestation. 

My next excursion was to Tzarsko Selo, not to see the 
palace, although it is said to have cost millions of roubles, 
but to spend an evening in the public gardens, which 
private enterprise, taking advantage of the imperial rail- 
road, the first constructed in Russia, had erected in the 
neighbourhood, and which in the summer season are 
crowded by all the fashionables of St. Petersburg. I 
was anxious to judge, with my own eyes, as to whether 
the managers of the Russian Cremornes and " Surreys," 
were more successful than our own Simpsons and Tylers 
in catering for the public amusement. So economical 
they certainly are not, for the ticket of admission at 
Tzarsko Selo costs nearly three times as much as at either 
of our famous London summer gardens. I found the 



THE SKITTLE POLKA. 



25 



gardens to be of limited dimensions, but rather tastefully 
laid out, and hung all over with festoons of paper-lanterns, 
which, later in the evening, were to form the illumina- 
tion. Some of these cheap decorations struck me as 
being exceedingly pretty in form and colour, and as 
offering patterns which might be followed with advantage 
by our English decorators, 

At one side was a light, graceful, rustic orchestra, of 
trellis-work and flowers — I hate your formal, classic 
mockeries in white and mud colour, with Beethoven 
busts and lyres, and the other orchestral convention- 
alities — and in that orchestra, a band, for which it will 
be enough to say that it was led by Johann Strauss, 
the son and worthy successor of the Strauss, so long 
the monarch of the saloons of Paris and Vienna. We 
had music of the first class for the connoisseurs, and 
brisk, merry waltzes for the general. Amongst other 
things, and decidedly the hit of the evening, was a 
composition of the conductor's, which might make even 
the unapproachable Jullien a little envious. Struck 
by the tremendous rumbling accompaniment that marked 
every bar, I asked a Russian officer what it was all 
about, and was informed it was the last novelty, called 
the u Skittle Polka," and that the noise I heard was 
the harmonious knocking down of the pins. I now 
listened attentively, as my kind interpreter translated 
the . shouts and noises with which the orchestra marked 
the progress of the game. First there was a jerking, 
irregular movement, that was setting up the pins, then 
a tremendous bang and a sympathetic crash from the 
orchestra, when I was told that the first ball had cleared 
the half of them away. Then came the betting and the 
excitement, voices in loud tones mixing with a 
tune something like the post-horn galop, the audience 
meantime laughing and clapping their hands with a 
vigour that showed how fully they understood and 
sympathised with what was going on. At last there 
was a tremendous shout of "All down" (in Kuss), 



26 



TZAKSKO SELO. 



and the Polka finished with a merry burst of dance- 
music. 

The garden was crowded with Russian officers and 
ladies, the former in the eternal gray redingote, and the 
latter in every variety of Parisian costume. One of the 
officers was a perfect giant, upwards of seven feet high, 
and the decorations with which his immense chest was 
covered, showed that he had not allowed his strength 
to "be eaten up with rust. He was an object of general 
curiosity, partly on account of his lofty stature, but 
chiefly in consequence of a well-known brilliant achieve- 
ment on the battle-field. I was told that, when the 
battle of the Tchernaya was at its height, seeing his com- 
manding-officer struck down, he had rushed into the 
thickest of the fire, and bore the body away on his 
shoulder. It is also said that the French and Sardinians, 
struck by the devoted heroism of the act. ceased firing 
until he had retired with his prize. I hope the story 
may be true, as it shows that the spirit of the old 
chivalry still survives in the fierce contentions of modern 
warfare. 

We finished with fireworks, which were by no means 
bad, and which sent the whole audience, officers, ladies, 
and plebs, to the forms, which they mounted, without 
the slightest regard for the perspective of the little 
people. Pickpockets rose immediately, like the imps in 
the pantomime, and began actively to practise their 
ingenious calling. Then came confusion, then rows, then 
arrests, then the most heart-rending protestations of 
innocence from young gentlemen whose hands had been 
actually caught in elderly gentlemen's coat-pockets. I 
felt that I was in a civilised country, and instinctively 
looked round for A 51. But A 51 was represented on 
this occasion by a grim-looking gendarme, and a con- 
siderably more grim-looking Cossack, who dragged off the 
misguided youth between them, — I suppose to Siberia 
and the knout. 

Little events of this kind naturally afforded those who 



THE EMPEROR ? S BATTUE OF THE THIEVES, 



27 



were not completely absorbed in the fireworks, abundant 
topics for conversation. My kind translator of the 
Skittle Polka, who was still at my elbow, told me that 
the garden and its neighbourhood was quite a paradise of 
security now, to what they had been a few years before, 
when the tMeving, gaming, and drinking, were suddenly 
brought to an end by a masterly coup, for which he 
could not find words sufficiently strong to praise the late 
Emperor. It seems that the Emperor Nicholas had had 
constant complaints of the doings at Tsarsko-Selo, and 
had as regularly referred the matter to the police. But 
the latter, who were nearly as corrupt as his councillors 
of state and llinistres du pcdais, kept their eyes shut 
to the doings of the thieves, while their hands were 
ever open for the liberal contributions of the latter. At 
last, the Emperor, wearied out of all patience, took the 
matter into his own hands, and cured the evil by means 
of a truly imperial remedy. Selecting one fine Sunday 
afternoon, when the gardens were at their fullest, the 
whole district was in a moment invaded by clouds of 
Cossacks, and every man, woman, and child, gentle and 
simple, officers, priests, laymen, and ladies, were arrested 
in a moment, and packed off by successive special trains 
to St. Petersburg, There was not one of them who had 
not to pass through the bureau of the secret police, and 
in doing so to tell his or her name, address, occupation, 
and the motives of the journey which had been thus 
suddenly interrupted. This operation, gone through 
with five or six thousand people, of course, occupied 
several days, and in the meantime, all St. Petersburg- 
was in agonies about missing husbands, wives, and 
children. At last the prisoners were thoroughly sifted, 
the thieves identified and packed off to prison, and the 
decent people restored to the bosoms of their families. 
The plan was thus completely successful, but I doubt 
if it would find favour in Scotland Yard. 



28 



PKINCE ESTERHAZY'S HOUSE. 



LETTER V. 

PRINCE ESTERHAZl'S HOUSE. THE "VISITORS. THE BLESSING OF 

THE APPLES. PETERHOFF PALACE. 

♦ 

St. Petersburg-, August 19. 
At about ten o'clock this morning the second and last 
division of the British embassy- extraordinary left their 
hotel for Moscow, Lord Granville having departed the 
day before. On the whole, I do not think they have had 
any reason to be dissatisfied with their sojourn in St. 
Petersburg, where they have received every suitable 
attention, although certainly their presence has not caused 
as much stir and excitement as that of their French 
allies, who have been seen everywhere in their splendid 
equipages, and doing the thing in grand style at their 
magnificent hotel. The English residents here, however, 
console themselves with the reflection that it is the French 
manner to make a splendid burst at first, either in war 
or parade, and afterwards suddenly to subside, after the 
manner of their own delightful champagne. The British 
embassy, it is thought, will come out strongest at Moscow, 
whither all the plate and state carriages have been sent, 
and where a saloon has actually been built, as I under- 
stand, in order that our ambassador may have ample 
scope and verge to do justice to our proverbial insular 
hospitality. The rivalry between the special embassies 
will, I believe be considerable, and a rather humorous 
indication of it has already got into circulation. It is 
said that Prince Esterhazy's agent at Moscow, from 
having been early in the field, was able to obtain a suit- 
able house for his serene highness at the moderate charge" 
of 17,000 roubles the month, but that the Prince subse- 
quently hearing that the British and French ambassadors 
were respectively paying 40,000, he indignantly cancelled 



THE VISITORS. 



29 



Ms contract, and insisted on having a house at the same 
price. The serene ambition was easily gratified. A new 
coat of paint, a new name, and a new rate of rental, 
soon brought the original house up to the Prince's notion 
of what was suitable for the representative of the Em- 
peror. As I am now about to start for Moscow in the 
wake of greater people, I think I cannot do better than 
collect in this my last Petersburg letter all the minor 
incidents of the past week connected with the approaching 
pageant, and the proceedings of our special embassy, the 
members of which of course, like other people, imme- 
diately after their arrival, scattered themselves about 
to enjoy the sights with which this magnificent city 
abounds. 

One of them, a nobleman whose long residence in Italy 
has, I believe, made him an admirer of religious cere- 
monial, took the opportunity of being present at the 
Smolensko fete, an annual festival to which the Mujiks 
repair to weep, and subsequently feast actually over the 
graves of their deceased relatives. While his lordship 
was gazing on this interesting scene, one of the least 
absorbed of the mourners contrived to abstract his watch 
and chain, in a manner that would have done honour to 
a London professional, to the great surprise of the aris- 
tocratic observer of Russian national customs. A greater 
wonder, however, yet remains to be told, which is, that 
his lordship is likely to get it back again through the 
agency of the English magdsin, the thief having by an 
odd coincidence brought it to one of the workmen, em- 
ployed in that establishment, for sale. Should he do so, 
it will be looked upon as rather a novelty in St. Peters- 
burg, as the Russian police are almost as subject to legal 
doubts as the late Lord Eldon, when called upon to 
decide on the restoration of stolen property. Lady Peel 
* drives about almost daily, looking quite fascinating in her 
4 6 wide-awake " hat, much to the astonishment and ad- 
miration of the Russian fashionables ; and Lord and Lady 
Stafford pay frequent visits to their graceful little yacht, 



30 



THE BLESSING OF THE APPLES. 



now lying at anchor in the Neva. The Emperor has 
intimated his intention of inspecting this vessel before 
she leaves, although, from the incomplete state in which 
she was hurried away from England, she can hardly be 
said to be in suitable trim for an Imperial visit. Lord 
Stafford intimated so much to his Imperial Majesty, but 
the latter would take no denial ; and the visit will, I 
believe, certainly come off. Fortunately for the visitors, 
the week has been signalised by two important religious 
solemnities, to which the Prussian people attach the 
greatest interest and importance. I allude to the blessing 
respectively of the water and the apples, which is per- 
formed with all the pomp and ceremony of the Greek 
church. The first, was solemnised at Peterhoff, in the 
presence of the Emperor, on a small piece of ornamental 
water consecrated for the purpose. The Greek prelates 
and priests walked in procession, dressed in their most 
gorgeous vestments, followed by the Imperial family, also 
walking ; and, when they came to the waterside, the Cross 
was plunged in, the choristers singing a solemn chaunt as 
the officiating prelate performed the rite. The distance 
from town prevented the presence of many strangers, but 
I recognised some English faces amongst the crowd. 

The second, " The blessing of the apples," a ceremony 
which forms an indispensable preliminary to the mastica- 
tion of that refreshing fruit, took place yesterday in every 
church throughout St. Petersburg, but with peculiar 
pomp in the Kazan Cathedral, by the metropolitan and 
fifteen officiating priests. The costumes were most gor- 
geous, and the Archbishop, who was robed in the middle 
of the church, was one blaze of gold and jewels. The 
ceremonies, which seemed exceedingly complex, consisted 
of numerous genuflexions, and symbolic groupings on the 
part of the priests, who formed themselves into squares, 
triangles, and other figures typical of the Trinity, the 
Tabernacle, and the various doctrinal data of Eastern 
Christianity. The congregation, amongst which there was 
no classification, and who stood the whole time of service, 



THE BLESSING OF THE APPLES. 



31 



was of the most varied appearance and character. Rus- 
sian princes, and generals covered with decorations, 
prayed side by side with the poor Mujik, and both seemed 
equally impressed wiih the solemnity of the occasion ; 
while the Russian countess, in the most fashionable 
Parisian toilette, did not feel her dignity ruffled by the 
vicinity of the poor Livonian or Finland woman, whose 
quaint national costume gave wonderful variety to the 
scene. In the churches here there are no carefully stuffed 
pews or separation of ranks — all pray together, and 
perform their genuflexions, which are exceedingly nu- 
merous, in the same earnest and profoundly devout 
manner, Indeed, I have had frequent occasion to re- 
mark, since my arrival, an affability on the part of 
Russian people of distinction to even the humblest of 
their countrymen, which might be imitated with advan- 
tage by the English aristocracy, even in cases where the 
line of social demarcation is by no means so broad. But 
this by way of parenthesis. 

After the service came a sermon, the text and character 
of which I took the trouble of ascertaining for the edifi- 
cation of your more serious readers. The preacher, 
Sydnowski, is a man of great eloquence and talent, and, 
in consequence, of so much influence amongst the masses 
as to be almost a power in the state. He has, I am 
informed, suffered persecution from his more conservative 
brethren for his advanced opinions ; but, however that 
may be, he is now one of the most popular preachers in 
the capital. His text was, " The Lord is my strength 
and my shield,'* and his discourse, which he dexterously 
applied all through, not only to the text, but to the 
occasion, was, judging from the rapt attention and occa- 
sional emotion of the people, most eloquent. That it 
was delivered with both grace and fervour was apparent 
even to those who did not understand a word of the 
language. At the conclusion of the sermon, the Me- 
tropolitan came forward and solemnly blessed the 
people, the apples, and finally himself, and a hymn 



PETERHOFF PALACE. 



of almost unearthly solemnity terminated the cere- 
monial. 

I should mention that the Russian choral singing is 
very peculiar, having on one side the trebles, on the 
other the basses, the latter of peculiar depth and force, 
being selected from the whole population of the empire, 
without any consideration of expense. The boys, who 
have beautiful voices, sing, for instance, " The Lord have 
mercy on us," and hardly has the lute-like sweetness of 
their tones fixed the ear, when, from the other side, the 
tremendous basses thunder forth the same burthen in 
reply. This music, which is without instrumental accom- 
paniment, sounds strangely at first, but soon begins to 
attract by its strange and unearthly solemnity. It must 
also be observed that almost every person, whether priest 
or chorister, employed in the service of the Greek church, 
is of tall stature and commanding presence, so that 
nothing is wanting to give effect to the general coo.p- 

Sunday last was appointed by the Emperor for the 
double purpose of receiving the cordon of the Legion of 
Honour, and of having the officers of the St. J ean d' Acre 
presented. As a preliminary to both proceedings, which 
took place at Peterhoff, his Imperial Majesty attended 
divine service in the church attached to the palace, and 
which is exclusively devoted to the Emperor and court. 
I was fortunate in getting a very near view of the Impe- 
rial family, and therefore took very little notice of the 
bewildering variety of uniforms that filled the vestibule. 
Alexander the Second is a slight well-made man, above 
the middle size, but nothing approaching the Jove-like 
proportions of the late Emperor. His face is quite 
German, with a mild, almost saddened, expression, but 
full of thoughtfulness and intelligence. His Majesty's 
close application to business, which is well known, may 
affect his looks, but certainly he has by no means the 
appearance of robust health. He drove up to the palace 
in an open carriage without the slightest parade, and 



PETERHOFF PALACE. THE EMPEROR. 



33 



received into his own hands the petitions of a number of 
poor women who were permitted thus to approach the 
fountain-head of authority. This custom, which puts one 
in mind of the Arabian Nights, is only followed in certain 
cases, as it must be obvious that, if general, it would 
occupy the entire time of the Emperor. 

As his Majesty received them there was not the 
slightest appearance of hauteur on his part, nor of undue 
servility on that of his fair petitioners, who simply curt- 
seyed in a business-like off-hand way, and retired much 
more composedly than I have seen municipal dignitaries 
do in England, when they were permitted to approach 
the throne. I mention this little incident to show that, 
however despotic the government of this country may be 
in theory, it is much ameliorated in practice by the 
personal deportment of people in authority, from the 
Emperor on his throne, the fountain of honour, favour, 
and fortune, down to the humble "Budishnik" — generally 
pronounced bootjack by early students in Sclavonic — the 
Russian policeman, who tells you about fifteen times a 
day that it is not permitted to smoke in the street, and 
politely points out the announcement to that effect in 
the French language, which is hung up in his little 
guard-house. I have now read it so often that it is com- 
pletely imprinted on my memory, but I always find that 
a few civil nods and winks — beyond that, as Albert Smith 
says, the conversation is apt to flag — and in extreme 
cases a cigar or five copecks, gets me out of the difficulty, 
and appeases the outraged dignity of the law. 

In the late Emperor's time the prohibition was rigidly 
enforced, but the present Czar smokes himself, and has 
walked through the streets with a cigar, and his loyal 
subjects have not been slow in following his example. 
At present, people smoke pretty generally in the northern 
capital. The Empress, who followed her august spouse 
into the church, is a tail, lady-like woman, but beyond 
that nothing remarkable. Her toilet was in excellent 
taste, very similar to that of the Empress Eugenie, whose 

D 



34 



PETEEHOFF PALACE. THE FOUNTAINS. 



figure is not unlike that of the Czarina. The young arch- 
dukes are all fine hearty little fellows, give the salute 
with true military precision, and look quite smart in 
their tiny uniforms, each being of course colonel of a 
regiment. The Czar himself wore the dress of the Gardes 
a Cheval, one of the most tasteful in the service. 

After prayers came the court, the presentations, and 
the decoration, and all the while the grand fountains 
played, and the people on the terrace could divide then 
attention between the glittering crowds that filled the 
windows of the palace, the grim gigantic Cossack footmen, 
in full national costume, the splendidly dressed negroes, 
the relics of more barbaric times and courts, and the inur- 
muring cascades on the other side, through whose long 
vista of diamond spray, they could see the Gulf of Fin- 
land, the natural boundary of the Russian empire. The 
taste of these fountains, which cost millions of roubles, is 
by no means severe. The water falls over terraces of 
blue and gold, and the jets are sent forth by Samsons, 
dryads, frogs, and dolphins, of the brightest gilding and 
colours. The effect is excellent, and as every one seems 
to like them, we must suppose them to be well designed, 
whatever the high art dictators may say to the contrary. 
I should add that PeterhofF, which during the past week 
has been a great centre of attraction, is approached by a 
service of small steamers very punctually and regularly 
performed, and constantly well filled with passengers. 
To give an idea what the channel is, it will be only 
necessary to state that we grounded twice going down 
last Sunday, and this although the captain is supposed to 
be familiar with every inch of the way. I am afraid that 
a flotilla of hostile gunboats would be sadly puzzled in 
these waters. This morning, and this is my last bit of 
St. Petersburg news, the regalia were sent off by the 
railway to Moscow. There was a grand procession of 
Imperial carriages, through the window of one of which 
the great diamond crown could be seen, to the station, 
escorted by the Chevalier Garde, and the whole of the 



MOSCOW. THE RAILWAY JOURNEY. 



35 



Xevskoi was crowded with people, as the interesting 
cortege drove past. St. Petersburg will henceforth be a 
desert until after the coronation, and Moscow for one 
month at least will witness a revival of its old populous- 
ness and splendour. 



LETTER VI. 

MOSCOW — THE RAILWAY JOURNEY. — THE GRAND DUKE CONSTAXTINE 
■ FIRST IMPRESSION. 



Moscow, August 21. 

I shall not soon forget the fatigue and anxieties of 
the twenty -four hours' journey by railway which has at 
last landed me safely, this day, in the holy and truly 
beautiful city of Moscow. The run is at any time no 
mean achievement, but the trouble is tenfold increased at 
the present moment by the unexampled influx from all 
parts of the world of " distinguished foreigners,' 7 civilised 
and uncivilised, which is now overflowing the palaces, 
the inns, and the lodging-houses. 

When I entered the railway station at the top of the 
Xevskoi, yesterday morning, I was reminded of London 
Bridge on the Epsom morning, with this difference, that 
instead of sporting men, jockeys, and the metropolitan 
holiday folks, I found myself surrounded and almost, 
overwhelmed by princes and inujiks, Circassians and 
Georgians, handsome Greeks and ugly Tartars, ladies in 
Parisian toilettes, and then bonnes in the national caftan 
and coronet, Jews and Slovacks, Poles and Hungarians, 
priests and Levites ; in short, every variety of costume, 
colour, and odour that distinguish the varied races com- 
posing the great Russian nation. To do them justice, 
they were not half so unruly as the crowd to which I 
have just now compared them, but they were legion, and 
their luggage — such luggage I — which had all to be passed 

d 2 



36 THE RAILWAY JOURNEY.— THE COMPANY. 

through a window and weighed, and which seemed as if 
it would have required the Leviathan steam-ship to 
supply the requisite accommodation. Nineteen, twenty- 
five, even fifty packages were no unusual amount for a 
single passenger ; and then some of them as big as a sugar 
hogshead were hoisted up by sheer force of mujik muscle, 
and deposited composedly on the heads of those who by 
long struggling had secured an inside place for themselves 
and their little portmanteaus next the receiving window. 
It was a desperate case, the officer was bewildered ; but 
a few cabalistic words in his ear, and a corresponding 
cabalistic sign in the palm of his hand, had a wonderful 
effect in clearing his intellect and enabling him to select 
the correct carpet-bag with creditable acumen. Then 
there was the pass to be stamped, and the ticket to be 
paid for, and the place to be taken, the latter by no 
means an easy task, as the military officers and their 
ladies, who are privileged to enter everywhere and before 
everybody, had secured all the seats — not only for them- 
selves, but for their smaller luggage, their Italian grey- 
hounds, parrots, and railway wrappers. 

However, at last we were fairly afloat, and trudging 
leisurely along our little journey of six hundred and 
seventy versts, at the rate of about twenty miles an 
hour. The first-class carriages, which are constructed on 
the American plan, are comfortable and even elegant ; 
and the power of walking up and down, and occasionally 
stepping out on the little gallery at the end for a mouthful 
of fresh air, very much diminishes the weariness of the 
almost interminable journey. We had as our fellow- 
passengers Russian generals en route for the review, 
Russian countesses ditto for the balls, and Russian and 
German doctors speculating on the probable effects of 
the dinners. In one corner of our " waggon" sat a 
Circassian prince, some juvenile Schamyl perhaps, magni- 
ficently attired in his national dress, tastefully harmonised 
with the uniform of the Russian army. He was a 
remarkably fine-looking man, and seemed as happy and 



THE RAILWAY JOURNEY. THE COUNTRY. 37 

contented as if nothing had ever occurred to cause a 
difference of opinion between him and the Georgian 
Viceroy. He was on the best terms with the Russian 
officers, and chatted and smoked with them all day long. 

The country through which we passed was as unin- 
teresting as could possibly be imagined. For the first 
one hundred versts it was bare and level as a steppe, 
without a single tree to break the monotony of the 
prospect. But as we neared Moscow, and left St. Peters- 
burg further behind, the landscape became more mellow ; 
clumps of trees first appeared, then plantations, while 
the open country became tinted with the green of the 
meadow or the golden hues of the corn-field. Now and 
then the fantastic spires of a Greek monastery cut the 
horizon, and comfortable farm-houses gave reassuring 
indication of human habitation. Then we had little 
rivers to cross, over well- constructed bridges ; and one of 
greater pretensions, called, I think, the iSTidska (I do not 
pledge myself to the orthography), covered with a flotilla 
of curiously constructed barges bringing down corn from 
the Volga for the consumption of the capital. 

We had rain in light showers, even down teems and 
perfect torrents, with now and then a flash of lightning 
or a gleam of sunshine ; an*d, lastly, some regular stop- 
pages on the road, varying in duration from ten minutes 
to two hours, and giving the nobles ample time for their 
tschai and the mujiks for their darling vodka. You may 
depend upon it, the opportunity was not neglected, as at 
every station the refreshment-room exhibited the most 
motley groups imaginable, w T hile the waiters were embar- 
rassed at once by the pressure of their duties and the 
scarcity of change. Indeed, I cannot call to my mind a 
single instance in which these truly conscientious men, 
being entrusted with a three-rouble note, were enabled to 
get back to the passenger who had entrusted it to him 
before the departure of the train. 

At, I think, our sixth station, we were comforted by the 
agreeable intelligence that we must wait an hour and a half 



38 



THE GRAXD DUKE CONSTAXTIXE. 



extra in order to allow the passage of a special convoi con- 
taining the Grand Duke Constantine and his suite. I 
was comforted under the delay by being enabled to get 
an excellent view of his Imperial Highness, who came 
down upon the platform, and nodded to and chatted with 
everybody about him. It was pleasing to see the confi- 
dence with which the humblest people came up quite 
close to him, and the off-hand, friendly way in which he 
received their compliments. There were no soldiers, no 
butt-ends of muskets to keep off the common herd, but 
everything was trusting, kindly, and without any affecta- 
tion of condescension. I believe that in consequence of 
his identity of name with his uncle, and the way in 
which he has been mixed up with recent naval operations, 
he is looked upon in England as a very terrible fellow, 
both in appearance and manners ; but nothing can be 
further from the reality. He is a tall, slight, well-made, 
fair-haired and blue-eyed young man, with good features 
and a pleasant expression, and seems to be on the best 
terms with himself and everyone about him. He is, in 
short, the last man in the world whom from his appear- 
ance I should reckon dangerous or disagreeable. Besides 
this, he has a considerable reputation for wit and sarcastic 
humour, and many of his sayings are in general circu- 
lation. I shall give you one or two as specimens. 

To enab]e you to understand the first, I must premise 
that it is alleged that the Americans, whose wonderful 
sympathy with Russia during the last war it was so diffi- 
cult to understand, have made several excellent specu- 
lations in this country ; amongst others, the contract for 
keeping the Moscow Railway in repair, by which it is 
said they nett a clear profit of some £200,000 a-year. 
The Grand Duke, who is dissatisfied with this job, as 
well he may be if the figiues be correct, had lately some 
distinguished friends on a visit, whom he handed over to 
his chamberlain to show them the sights of the capital. 
One day he asked that officer whether his friends had seen 
all the sights, and being answered in the affirmative, said, 



MOSCOW. FIRST IMPRESSIONS. 



39 



laughing, " Then go and show them the American con- 
tract, which is decidedly the greatest curiosity that could 
be exhibited in any country." The second story applies 
to his Imperial Highness's early days. He was, as is 
well known, appointed to the nominal command of the 
fleet when a child, but even at that early age was anxious 
to make it a reality. One day, when on board a man- 
of-war, he promoted an officer who pleased him, but the 
appointment was not confirmed, while the young admiral 
was reproved. The next morning he appeared before the 
Emperor in full uniform and tendered his resignation, 
adding that he was no admiral if he could not promote 
whom he liked. It is needless to add that this youthful 
burst caused considerable amusement in the highest 
quarter, and that the resignation was not accepted. But 
the Grand Duke has now passed on his rapid journey, 
the regular train following at a respectful distance, and at 
a pace which brought us into Moscow at noon to-day, 
after a journey of nearly twenty-five hours. 

I must confess that, on first entering, the modern and 
suburban appearance of the holy city disappointed me ; 
but a visit to the Kremlin and its neighbourhood, which 
I was not long in paying, restored and even strengthened 
all my foregone conclusions. I shall take a future oppor- 
tunity of paying a more lengthened visit, and writing a 
more careful account of this extraordinary quarter ; but 
I could not resist the temptation of at once taking a 
glimpse at a place which from infancy I had been hearing 
and reading about as one of the wonders of the world. 
Accordingly, I hurried off, plunged into the labyrinths of 
the old city, where I was nearly devoured by the worthy 
denizens, citizens of this Eastern Petticoat Lane, and soon 
found myself in the centre of the " Beautiful Place," 
which certainly has a very fair claim to that appellation. 
The sound of hammers attracted me to the still- unfinished 
triumphal arch by which the Emperor is to enter the 
sacred precincts, and suddenly I found myself in pre- 
sence of the great bell, which has been so accurately 



40 



THE CHURCH 0E THE ASSUMPTION. 



weighed, measured, and described oyer and over again. 
It is, in truth, a tremendous casting, and if in sounding 
order would make a most sonorous report. The broken 
piece lies close beside it, and more than anything else 
enables one to form a just conception of the enormous 
size of the bell itself. Passing under the " Sacred Gate/' 
like a good Christian, hat in hand, I in a moment stood 
at the very grille of the Church of the Assumption, in 
which the great ceremonial is to take place. It has been 
closed some days to the public, but a good-natured deacon 
took pity on my curiosity, and politely invited me into 
the interior. What a scene of barbaric magnificence, 
historic reminiscence, and political suggestiveness ! Pass- 
ing through a darkened vestibule, I suddenly felt myself 
almost dazzled by a perfect blaze of gold and colour. 
The walls were every inch covered with frescoes and 
mosaics, in heavy gilt frames, and the great ' central 
pillars that support the cupolas decorated in a similar 
manner. Although the church is small, the loftiness of 
the ceiling gives it a most imposing appearance, and the 
vague indistinctness with which the comparative gloom 
enables you to take in the details, produces in the mind 
a peculiar feeling of awe and reverence. As works of 
art, few would be bold enough to defend these elaborate 
decorations, but they are the signs of a sentiment, a 
power, and a policy, and, looked upon in that light, must 
always be objects of deep interest to the spectator. 
Greek priests were chanting their vespers in one comer, 
while carpenters were hammering away in another at the 
gorgeous estrade upon which the Emperor is to kneel 
while he reads his rather lengthy confession of faith. 
Everything was resplendent with gold, and velvet, and 
ostrich feathers ; but a glance was all I was permitted to 
take, sufficient, to convince me that the interior of the 
church will not accommodate more than about 500 
persons. 



KUSSIAX HOTELS. 



41 



LETTER VII. 

(not before published.) 
moscow. — its hotels \ their company. monsieur chollet. 

Moscow, August 23. 
OoS'E of the greatest bugbears with persons about to 
visit Russia is the reputation of its hotels, which every 
traveller, from Clarke down to Custine, have represented 
as everything but what Englishmen associate with the idea 
of comfort or cleanliness. I must confess that I myself 
had some misgivings as I travelled northward, and often 
pictured to myself as I lay cosily huddled up in the 
leva's nice little berth how I should feel on the wooden 
tressel, which I had been informed was the only accom- 
modation to be found in a Russian hotel. Indeed, I 
sometimes regretted that I had not made a small invest- 
ment in domestic tinware, fearing that the means of 
cooking the indispensable coffee might be wanting in the 
country I was about to visit. The illusion was completely 
dispelled in as far as St. Petersburg was concerned from 
the moment I set foot in Miss Benson's English boarding- 
house, an establishment which I can cordially recommend 
to all future visitors to Russia. It is situated on the 
English Quay, directly opposite the spot at which the 
Stettin boat lands its passengers, and having been for 
many years the residence of the late Sir James Wylie, 
physician to the Eroperor ^Nicholas, is supplied with con- 
veniences and comforts which are not often found in 
continental houses. The two obHging hostesses are 
English ladies, for many years resident in Russia, speak 
the Russ and other continental languages with as much 
fluency as their own, and devote themselves entirely to 
the comfort and accommodation of their guests. Their 
house is constantly full of English and Americans, and I 



42 MOSCOW HOTELS. THE NOCTURNAL ENEMY, 

never heard of an instance in which a traveller went away 
dissatisfied either with the fare or the charges. I con- 
sider myself in duty bound to say this good word for two 
countrywomen who are thus honourably sustaining the 
character of their native land for cleanliness and order 
in a strange and distant region. 

But, then, I had yet to face Moscow — Moscow, the 
ancient capital of the Czars, — Moscow of the primitive 
Mujiks, — Moscow, where the people lived in sheepskins 
and cared little for any other domicile. Strange stories 
came wafted down the rail about the discomforts of the 
holy city, the terrific character of the cookery, the 
scarcity of the beds, and the ferocity of certain aborigines 
with whom you had nightly to dispute the right of 
possession. So far went one of the travellers, who 
proverbially "tell strange stories," as to describe circum- 
stantially the ingenious methods by which he himself had 
endeavoured to circumvent these little tormentors, who 
were, he said, unceasing in their assaults on the stranger's 
couch. According to his story, he purchased a certain 
powder, which was sovereign in such cases, with which he 
nightly drew a line of circumvallation round his bed, and 
for two nights had a mischievous pleasure in watching 
the enemy coming up in platoons to the edge of the 
magic circle, but retiring precipitately the moment they 
smelt the deadly drug. On the third, however, what was 
his horror to see one little Cossack, more agile or more 
sagacious than the rest, clear his vaunted entrenchment 
at a bound, when, lo ! the " whole camp, pioneers and 
all," followed, and our friend had nothing left to do but 
gather his blanket about his head, after the manner of 
Caesar, and submit with resignation to his fate. This 
was hardly a pleasant prospect for a rather stout 
Britannic islander, who might expect, as a stranger, to 
fall in for a more than ordinary share of their polite 
attentions ; but my alarm was perfectly needless, for I 
certainly never was more comfortably lodged out of 
England than in the Dom Patrikieff, Grande Lubianka, of 



MONSIEUR CHOLLET. 



43 



which Monsieur Chollet is the worthy and respectable 
proprietor. Monsieur Chollet himself is one of those 
individuals whom one constantly meets with on the 
Continent, who have all their lives knocked about in so 
many countries as almost to forget the corner in which 
they were originally raised. I often speculate on the land 
of M. Chollet's birth, but as often finish in a haze. He is 
strong and squarely built like an Englishman, and has 
that peculiar trim neatness of appearance which seems 
unattainable by the natives of any other country. He 
makes his appearance punctually at half-past seven every 
morning, shaved until his blue chin shines again, his 
linen spotless as the snow, and his general wardrobe as 
correct as if he was going on a deputation to the Lord 
Mayor. We are generally first made aware of his august 
presence by the loud tones of a Russian oration which he 
matutinally addresses to his numerous Mujik domestics, 
male and female, and which has the effect of setting 
them flying about the house something after the manner 
of the ship's cat immediately before a storm, and of 
keeping them in a state of feverish activity for the rest of 
the day. I believe that this morning harangue does not 
arise out of any immediate cause for censure, but is 
merely a sort of preliminary flourish intended, like the 
opening bars of a polka, just to shake out the limbs of 
the dancers. Having disposed of this indispensable pre- 
liminary, M. Chollet smoothes his imperial brow, and, 
as his worthy guests come down stairs, makes tender 
inquiries after their several healths in their several 
languages. The Germans accept him as an exile from 
fatherland, the Italians melt into tears at the soft accents 
of his lingua Toscana, and even the English and Americans 
are sometimes startled at the natural effect with which 
he gives out his "Too be sure." Indeed M. Chollet goes 
so far sometimes as to be critical on the distinctions 
between John and Jonathan, and has more than once 
hinted to me his opinion that the American language is 
a sadly deteriorated dialect. But M. Chollet was once 



44 



HOTEL COMPANY. — THE AMERICANS. 



courier to an English nobleman, and he still retains an 
affectionate remembrance of the old country and its pecu- 
liarities, especially of the rumpsteaks that were to be had 
in his time, " in the leetle street behind the Bank." As 
a question of arithmetic, he prefers his English guests, 
then the Americans, then the French and Italians, and 
lastly the Germans, although the last-named form the 
majority of his customers, the German merchants engross- 
ing almost the whole of the inland trade of Russia. 

For my own part, the impression made upon me by 
the mixed company with whom I every day sit down to 
dinner is, that if there be one thing in this world more 
absurd than another, it is that national prejudice that so 
much interferes with the free intercourse of the different 
peoples in it. We have here American gentlemen of 
wealth and refinement, who are travelling over the world 
in search of information and amusement, whose polished 
manners and liberal and comprehensive views would do 
honour to the first circles in any country. I have had 
many discussions with them on the all-important slavery 
question, and the result to which they have brought me 
is, that the best thing we can do with that ugly social 
knot is to leave the untying of it to the Americans them- 
selves : as we may depend upon this, that although every 
intelligent native of that country wishes to see the 
question set at rest, they will not tolerate any external 
interference. One of them had come all the way from 
Boston to submit to Prince Gortschakoff a plan for 
raising the Russian fleet now slumbering at the bottom 
of Sebastopol harbour, and he convinced me that he 
could do it too, if the delays of Russian routine did not 
exhaust the remainder of his natural life. I must here 
observe that the Russians have a wonderful opinion of 
the activity and energy of the Americans, although the 
affair of the Moscow "Remonte" makes them rather 
cautious in making bargains with them. 

My next neighbour at the dinner-table every day is an 
Italian who fought for his country's freedom under 



HOTEL COMPANY. THE ITALIAN. 



45 



Garibaldi, who got safely to England under an amnesty, 
but was subsequently caught by the Austrians when 
attempting to pay a visit to a beloved sister. For this 
slight offence this unfortunate gentleman suffered for 
eighteen months the horrors of an Austrian dungeon, 
was more than once taken out to be shot, and the tortures 
he suffered, and which he can most eloquently describe, 
fully corroborate the narrative of Felice Orsini. Indeed, 
it is only necessary to look at him, to see that he must 
have been exposed to more than ordinary trials. Although 
quite a young man, under thirty, and of a well-favoured 
and expressive countenance, the traces of his past pri- 
vations and miseries may be seen indelibly impressed in 
every feature, and are silent witnesses to the truth of his 
touching narrative, at the details of which no one could 
be more indignant than the Russian guests, who never 
lose an opportunity of expressing their hatred and 
contempt for Austria. On my other hand sits a genuine 
Russ, a merchant of the first guild, and a most sensible, 
intelligent man. He sometimes complains bitterly of 
England — " Russia's oldest friend M — for originating the 
war, and, as he says, dragging France unwillingly into it, 
and over and over again assures me that henceforth 
France is to occupy the first place in the 'Russian heart. 
But his deportment completely belies his assertions, for 
he is one of the friendliest old fellows I ever met, and 
never loses an opportunity or spares any trouble in 
giving or getting for me the information of which I 
stand so much in need. 

Then we have a German gentleman, the representative 
of a great mercantile house in England, as fine a fellow 
as one need wish to know, a man fit for anything that 
requires strength, courage, or intelligence. Every year it 
is his custom, the moment the frost sets in, to don his 
furs, mount his sledge, and, plunging fearlessly into the 
wild steppe, never to draw bridle until he arrives at far 
Irkutsk, on the confines of Tartary, 3000 versts from 
Moscow, there to deal with the wild hordes of the desert 



46 



HOTEL COMPANY. THE GERMAN. 



for the articles of his costly trade. He has the whole 
internal condition of Russia at his fingers' ends, its trade, 
its commercial laws, and the manners and customs of its 
people. Of the first, his estimate would have been 
astounding to me, had I not had previously some few 
opportunities of judging of the immense physical resources 
of this great empire. To its possible future development 
he would not put any limit, and only regrets that the 
absurd laws of the country throw so many ridiculous 
obstacles in the way of foreign merchants. The laws, as 
he describes them, render the recovery of debts almost as 
hopeless as the termination of a chancery suit in England, 
but this is, in some measure, compensated by the general 
probity of the native dealers, to which he bears honour* 
able testimony. It is no uncommon thing, he informs 
me, for dealers to come to the great fair of Nishni Novo- 
gorod, from the remotest parts of the empire, and buy 
from him and other merchants to the value of thousands 
of roubles, for which payment is to be made at the next 
great fair. This, in the case of men who come to the 
fair clad in sheepskins, and with huge caps of the black 
Astracan lambskin on their heads, speaks well for the 
natural honesty of the Russian character when uncon- 
taminated by frequent contact with the corruptions of 
courts and cities. Should I never again have the pleasure 
of meeting my pleasant German friend, I shall always 
retain a lively recollection of his frank, manly deport- 
ment, and most intelligent and instructive conversation. 

Lastly, we had three Irishmen, two rich, and the third 
by no means too heavily encumbered with the precious 
metals, but all jolly enough, and getting on very well 
with their neighbours, as Irishmen generally do in foreign 
lands. Now, to return to my text, here we are, men of 
many lands and various degrees, both of station and 
intellect, a perfect Babel in tongues, but a temple of 
friendship in mutual deportment, while the distinctions 
of country and race had disappeared almost on the first 
day. I verily believe that all these distinctions are only 



MONSIEUR CHOLLET. 



47 



a slight crust after all, and that, in the main, the same 
conditions of life being given, mankind are pretty nearly 
the same all over the world. 

One word more as to our high priest, from whom, I 
confess, I shall part with reluctance. At the head of our 
prandial congress of the nations sits daily the illustrious 
Chollet, dressed with still more precision than in the 
morning, although he has been actively employed from 
early dawn until five minutes before dinner in marketing, 
getting passports, receiving customers, despatching ditto, 
haranguing Mujiks, and superintending the cuisine ; for 
his wife, whom he finds time to treat with the tenderest 
solicitude, is, poor woman, an invalid, still staggering 
under the shock inflicted some two years since by the 
death of an only and much-loved daughter. M. Chollet 
bears his loss like a man, but an unbidden tear often 
glistens in his eye as he tells the sad tale to account for 
Madame's small share in the domestic duties. How 
Chollet managed matters, especially dinner, was and is 
always a mystery to me, and more than anything else 
causes me to reverence £he man. Nobody ever saw a 
cook, nobody ever could guess where the kitchen stood, 
nobody ever detected the faintest anticipatory odour of 
dinner, until the very moment of projection. We are all 
like the amiable Prince at the table of the White Cat, 
and sit down every day round a spotless tablecloth, 
which in a moment is covered with smoking and savoury 
dishes. Nobody ever saw them come in, but there they 
are as if by magic. The only sign of previous preparation 
we can see is a momentary flash of exertion on the part 
of our worthy host over a huge salad-bowl that stands on a 
side-table, and into which he is wont to make one or two 
herculean plunges with a wooden spoon and fork just 
before we commence. Perhaps this chosen vessel has the 
qualities of Herr Dobbler's portfolio, and in addition to 
the salad, which is always excellent, also furnishes forth 
the soup, the roii, and the beef, of which, thanks to the 
Emperor's edict restricting the price, we have always a 



48 



SKETCH OF MOSCOW. 



plentiful supply. But wherever the cheer comes from, it 
is always good, cleanly served, and plentiful ; and it is 
quite a picture to see Monsieur ChoHet serving it out to 
his guests, and all the time keeping up a pleasant con- 
versation in four or five different languages, run rapidly 
one into the other, like the dissolving view at the 
precise moment when the Eialto is subsiding into the 
Lakes of Killarney, so that it requires a nice ear to detect 
where the one ends and the other begins. Honour, pros- 
perity, full house, and long, well-paid accounts ever 
attend thee, friend Chollet, Dom Patrikieff, Grande 
Lubianka, Moscow. 



LETTER VIII. 

SKETCH OF MOSCOW. — THE BOYAKBS. — THE PABABE OF THE 
GBABBS. 

Moscow, August 26. 
As the day of his Imperial Majesty's public entry 
more nearly approaches, the appearance of this extraor- 
dinary city becomes more and more gay, more and more 
peculiar, more and more unlike at once what I had 
hitherto seen in other great continental cities, and what I 
had anticipated would be its own appearance. I had 
looked forward to some huge relic of former and more 
barbarous times, with tumble-down half Asiatic-look- 
ing houses, and half Asiatic populations — in short., to 
a city from which the glory had departed, and which 
waited only the slow but certain touch of time to become 
for the curious traveller another Tadmor or Palmyra. 
AVhat then must have been my surprise to find myself all 
at once set down in a capital gay as Paris, populous as 
London, and having features of its own which give it 
great and peculiar interest. Whatever I may have 



SKETCH OF MOSCOW. 



49 



thought or said in favour of St. Petersburg as the scene 
of the coronation, a sight of Moscow has completely 
changed my opinion. 

The city of Peter the Great is, in truth, on the grandest 
scale ; but it is all grand, and there is nothing upon 
which to rest the eye as it ranges from one colossal palace 
to another. One feels, in passing along its interminable 
streets, or crossing its prairie-like squares, something like 
what must have been Gulliver's sensations in the capital 
of Brobdingnag, namely, a mortifying conviction of one's 
own littleness, and of the immense want of proportion 
between the huge architectural shell and its insignificant 
human kernel. You think of the hall of Eblis as you 
gaze on the solemn grandeur of the Izaak church, and 
long to come to the humble habitations of common men. 
But in Moscow, with its glorious undulating site, its 
long irregular streets of handsome villas, interspersed 
with greenery, its handsome magasins, and its constant 
rattle of equipages, you feel as if surrounded by human 
interest, and cease to wonder why neither despotic power, 
nor long neglect, nor systematic preference for a rival, 
can wean the true Russian from his love for the ancient 
cradle of his race. And now it looks brighter and gayer 
than ever. Paint, and lime, and varnish, have done 
wonders, making even the old Chinese town look sprightly 
and modern ; while the gilder has given to the thousand 
domes, minarets, and spires of Moscow a splendour 
and refulgence which can only be appreciated by being 
seen. 

Stand on the esplanade of the Kremlin, and having 
first curiously examined its battlemented walls, its ancient 
treasury, its grotesque church — the Assumption — so soon 
to be the scene of a solemn rite, its gay modern palace, 
and its thousand and one quaint details ; watch for a 
moment the people, high and low, military and civil, as 
they reverentially doff their hats while passing under the 
sacred gate ; and then turn suddenly towards the vast 
city that spreads itself out beneath your feet, count its 

E 



50 



THE BO YARDS. 



innumerable church spires of delicate green, bright golden, 
or royal red ; look down its long streets, alive with 
Iranian ants ; learn to distinguish its fortress-like con- 
vents, its regal palaces, its great public institutes, and 
you must indeed admit that you are gazing on a pano- 
rama to which the civilised world can offer but few 
parallels. 

We can tell that the Boyards are pouring into town by 
the number of extraordinary-looking old equipages that 
throng the streets in every direction. I saw one to-day 
that would astonish Long Acre, drawn by a train of four 
wild-looking Cossack horses, and laden with a large con- 
signment of the loyal noblesse of rural Russia. Even 
the mujiks stopped to look at it, and the cockers of the 
handsome modem landaus, as they new past, passed 
jokes which must have been pungent, from the irritation 
they created in the rustic Jehu. But not only the 
Boyards come to pay their respects to their Czar. The 
streets are literally crowded with wild Cosaques, hand- 
some Georgians, pale Circassians, fierce Kirgkisians, foppish 
Persians — all come to see the sight, and pay the regulated 
homage to their sovereign lord. One is never tired look- 
ing and asking questions, but that the answers are always 
satisfactory would be, perhaps, a rash assertion. 

The Emperor has not as yet arrived at his little road- 
side palace of Petrovski, but he is momentarily expected, 
and everything is ready for his reception. Close to the 
palace is a triumphal arch, from whence the procession is 
to start, and from that to the Kremlin is a distance of 
five versts, a tolerably long route for a great and solemn 
procession. The road on both sides is thickly studded 
with galleries, exceedingly well constructed, for seats in 
which the prices vary from ten to fifty roubles. But the 
fact is that, by a curious monetary revolution, the rouble 
has completely taken the place of the kopeck in the 
estimation of every one who has anything to sell, and 
will soon, I fear, be seen only in the cabinets of the 
curious, if swallowed up at the rate at which it has 



THE PARADE OE THE GUARDS. 



51 



disappeared during the last few days. If yon want a 
mujik to go a message into the next street, he demands 
two roubles for the job, and five for drotschki fare, as he 
could not possibly think of walking in weather such as 
we are now blessed with, and the same system pervades 
everything with which the visitors have anything to do. 

Lord Granville is comfortably located in his splendid 
palace, formerly the residence of Prince Graziano, and 
the street in which it is situated is a scene of constant 
bustle. There is a splendid suite of rooms, elegantly 
furnished, and ca/pable of accommodating, according to 
the London system of cramming, two thousand persons ; 
but the Russians must have room for their mazourkas, 
their cracoviennes, and their sit-down suppers, and there- 
fore it is probable that the invitations for his lordship's 
grand ball will not exceed six hundred. I believe his 
lordship's object will be to please by the good taste and 
quality of his entertainments, rather than to vie with the 
Russian nobility in that lavish expenditure which to 
them would be no novelty. Whatever is done at the 
embassy will, I am sure, be well done, and will fully 
sustain the reputation which his lordship has already 
acquired in this ancient capital. Both he and his suite 
are every where treated with the greatest attention and 
respect, and are unanimous in their testimony to the 
kindliness and hospitality of their reception. 

Yesterday evening his lordship rode over to the camp, 
and was fortunate in witnessing a grand parade, for 
which the whole of the Guards, about sixty thousand, 
were turned out. They are all tine tall men, and go 
through their evolutions with great certainty and precision. 
They march well, but the length of the step takes from 
their tread that peculiar weight of sound, so to speak, 
with which our own Guards have made every English- 
man's ear familiar. The officers were most polite and 
attentive to all the spectators, and frequently asked 
them what they thought of the troops. Just praise was 
of course given, but some learned civilians grew quite 

e 2 



52 



THE PARADE OF THE GUARDS. 



critical in their comments on the Russian column as com- 
pared with the English line. The manoeuvring, which 
lasted a couple of hours, consisted chiefly of rapidly 
moving these great columns from one part of the field to 
another, with an occasional fusillade as they came into 
position. One of the officers told me that when the 
Emperor arrived, the whole army, upwards of one hundred 
thousand men, would most probably be startled some 
morning by the rappel, and put through all the evolutions 
of a sham fight, without any previous notice or prepara- 
tion. This, vrhile it will test the efficiency and readiness 
of the troops, will be a splendid spectacle for all who may 
be so fortunate as to be on the qui vive. 

From the Champ de Mars to the field on which the 
great " Festin" of the people is to be held is but a step, 
and three miles of tables are already to be seen, flanked 
by the fountains from which wine and "quass" and 
" vodka" are to flow during the festival. I ventured to 
express my fears that such an unlimited supply of strong 
drinks might create riot and disorder, but was comforted 
with a hint that care would be taken in the preparation 
of the tempting fluids to prevent much disturbance of 
mujik equilibrium. Still I am afraid that if Mr. Henry 
suddenly appeared here from Bow-street on the following 
morning he would find ample employment in inflicting 
the five sHlhng penalty. 

Another feature of the programme, for which a grand 
success is expected, is the " Spectacle gala" at the 
theatre — a new one, and I believe one of the largest in 
the world. Its predecessor was burned down some three 
years since, and the present, which is quite finished, has 
been only eighteen months in course of erection. I 
should strongly advise Mr. Gye to get a drawing of it 
before he rebuilds Covent Garden, as it is decidedly the 
handsomest and best proportioned I have ever seen. 
Although of twenty-five feet more diameter than the San 
Carlos, it appears to be of moderate extent ; and the 
decorations, while costly, are of the best taste and design, 



THE EMPEROR'S PUBLIC ENTRY. 



53 



The architect, the Chevalier Albert Cavos, is a Venetian, 
long in the service of the Czar as chief theatrical archi- 
tect ; and to a compatriot, Signor Duzi, the preparation 
of the scenery is entrusted. He has completed a beautiful 
drop-scene, delineating an episode in Russian history, in 
which a peasant and a soldier roused the people of 
Moscow to a successful resistance to the then all-powerful 
Poles. It is a fine work, and will no doubt look splendid 
when properly placed in a well-lighted theatre. The 
artistes, five hundred in number, arrived last night by 
special train, and were reduced to great straits for sleeping 
accommodation. The petti Lablache was, I am informed, 
so fortunate as to secure three camp-stools and a sofa 
cushion, with which he extemporised a luxurious couch. 
As a matter of course they will all settle down soon into 
comfortable quarters ; but a sudden irruption of five 
hundred tired choristers and coryphees was enough to 
put any hotel-keeper to his wit's end. 

Sir Robert and Lady Emily Peel, Lord Ward, and a 
large party, are all off to Xishni Novgorod, to the great 
fair, where I fear their accommodation will not be much 
better than that which on the night of their arrival here 
so much startled the Italian invaders. 



LETTER IX. 

THE EMPEROR'S PUBLIC EX TRY INTO MOSCOW. 

Moscow, August 29. 
I write in the strong hope that long before this letter 
has reached you, your readers will have been informed, 
through the medium of my telegraphic despatch, trans- 
mitted on the day of the public entry, that that great 
event has at length taken place. It may appear strauge, 
but it is nevertheless true, that until the official Gazette 



54 



THE WEATHER. THE MUJTKS. 



appeared this morning it was quite uncertain whether the 
ceremonial would take place or not, it being generally 
understood that, should the weather prove unfavourable, 
the Emperor would wait for a finer day. In the morning 
the sky was gloomy, dark clouds hovered over the holy 
city, and at about 8 o'clock the rain commenced, and for 
two hours continued to pour down with vexatious perti- 
nacity. The sight-seekers, the officials, and the general 
public suffered a protracted agony, but at last the pluvial 
deities relented, the clouds broke freely, the bright sun 
shone dazzlingly on green cupola and golden spire, and 
everything was joy, expectation, and excitement. An 
immense crowd was naturally expected, and accordingly 
everyone was afoot for his or her trysting place at a very 
early hour. Those who had taken seats on the line at 
five, ten, or twenty roubles each, were determined to be 
in time, and might be seen at eight or nine o'clock in the 
morning scrambling up the galleries, each furnished with 
at least nine hours' rations, carefully made up in baskets 
or handkerchiefs. You might have fancied you were 
walking down one of the main avenues of London on a 
coronation day, so similar in the main features were the 
arrangements, so perfectly alike the deportment of the 
public. There were the young ladies in their gay toilettes 
and bouquets, the old ones looking fierce in the con- 
ventional mother-in-law turban, the family men, and the 
young men, all grouping, and pushing, and talking, and 
arranging, just as you might see them doing on a similar 
occasion in Whitehall or the Strand. 

The mujiks — after the manner of mujiks everywhere — 
had taken possession of the streets, at least of so much 
of them as the soldiers would permit, and might be seen 
at every opening, densely packed, and the front rows 
bent almost double, and looking exceedingly apoplectic, 
over the ropes which had been placed across from house 
to house to keep them within their proper limits. Down 
the principal street, the Tvertskoi, a broad central space, 
carefully sanded, was rigorously kept by a double line of 



APPEARANCE OF THE VERTSKOl. 



55 



soldiers, composed partly of the Grenadiers of the Guard, 
and partly of the Ishmaeloffski Regiment, formed three 
deep, and marshalled by their officers in brilliant uni- 
forms. They were all superb infantry, and looked both 
fierce and splendid in their dark green uniforms with 
scarlet facings, those being the prevailing colours in the 
Russian foot regiments. I walked down between the 
lines in company with a Russian officer, and was much 
gratified to observe with what gentleness and good 
humour the military performed the duty of restraining 
the mob. The joking was immense between the opposing 
forces, and the soldiers were not always victorious, espe- 
cially when attacked by a column of bright-eyed young 
damsels, who in most cases played off their traditional 
artillery with entire success against the grim sons of Mars. 
The street is not straight in its line nor uniform in the 
size of its houses, like Regent-street or the Nevskoi, but 
winds gracefully over an undulating surface, while every 
house has a strong individuahty, both in size, design, and 
decoration. They were all decorated in bright colours, 
and filled in every window and balcony with well-dres>ed 
people, and I must say that notwithstanding the irregula- 
rity of the buildings, I never saw a finer or more pictu- 
resque effect produced. The crowd was very great, and 
extended with more or less of density all the way to the 
Palace of Petrovski, a distance of seven versts, or about 
five English miles, from the city ; so that there could not 
have been much less than half a million of people assem- 
bled to welcome their Czar in the ancient capital of his 
empire. If you consider the distance from which many 
of the spectators must have come, and the inadequate 
means of transit existing in the rural districts of Russia 
you may consider the numbers as quite on a par with 
any of the great gatherings in London. 

All the temporary galleries, for which large admission 
fees had been paid, were densely filled, and even up to 
the last moment, the roubles were flying about in all 
directions for the purchase of seats. I had myself 



56 



THE VIEW OF THE CITY. 



taken an early opportunity of securing one in an advan- 
tageous position, but was subsequently so fortunate as 
to obtain, through the courtesy of Baron Bode, Mature cle 
la Cour, a billet for the interior of the Kremlin, with 
privilege of circulation not only within the military lines, 
but through all the courts of the fortress itself, including 
even the sacred quadrangle in which the church of the 
Assumption stands, and which, according to the pro- 
gramme, was to be devoted exclusively to the accommo- 
dation of the haute noblesse. Armed with the Baron's 
potent firman, I passed along the serried ranks of grim- 
looking warriors with perfect impunity, and when I had 
exhausted my curiosity by an inspection on the level, I 
ascended the battlements of the keep, and subsequently, 
the clock-tower of a little church, which seemed as if 
built into the wall, and was enabled to survey at my 
leisure, with the aid of an excellent glass, the whole of 
the brilliant and unique panorama, that stretched itself 
out on every side beneath my feet. 

I have already expatiated on the extraordinary and 
singular beauty of Moscow, as seen from any elevated 
position. One is never tired gazing on its gay variety of 
gold, and red, and green, as displayed in the cupolas and 
spires of its innumerable churches. Turn one way, and 
you are reminded of the Alham.br a ; another, and you 
imagine you are in a Chinese city ; but the third dispels 
the illusion, as you find yourself gazing on buildings as 
modern and elegant as those of Paris or Yienna. To-day 
being a gala-day, and, moreover, a fine day, they 
appeared to greater advantage, resembling more the 
whimsical combinations of the kaleidoscope than any 
ordinary brick and mortar accumulation. We had 
to wait a long time for the entrance of the cortege, but 
had ample amusement meanwhile, in watching the move- 
ments of the crowd, scanning with curious eye the 
Turkey carpets, Persian silks, and even Russian bear- 
skins, with which the balconies were decorated, or 
distinguishing the various squadrons of cavalry that 



THE GARDE A CHEVAL. 



57 



shot past like meteors, en route to tlieir respective 
stations. 

Who are those splendid cavaliers in bright cuirasses 
over white uniforms, and mounted on superb black 
chargers, that prance, and curvet, and sidle, and rear; to 
the great inconvenience of the crowd, but the manifest 
admiration of the ladies \ They are the garde a cheval^ 
one of the picked regiments of the immense Russian 
army. They are making for Petrovski, to form part of 
the Emperor's body-guard. Who are those steady, sober- 
looking fellows in light blue uniforms, mounted on 
steady business-like horses, and looking as if Sir Richard 
Mayne might place himself at their head at a moment's 
notice ? They are the mounted gendarmerie, a most 
efficient body of men, who keep the peace of this great 
city, with its half-European, half- Asiatic population, in a 
way that would do honour to the London police. They 
are followed by an elfin troop, the grim-looking Cossacks 
of the Ukraine, mounted on hardy little horses, and 
helping the gendarmes to look after the people, while the 
gendarmes look after themselves. They are odd, sus- 
picious-looking fellows these, and when one meets a 
couple of them in a dark night with their long lances, 
their black sheepskin shakos, exaggerated by the dark- 
ness, their Hayreddin Maugrabin air, and their furtive 
glances, one remembers with a sigh the prosaic A 29, 
with his glazed hat, snug surtout, and exceedingly 
re-assuring bull's eye lantern. We are next attracted by 
an army in miniature, and the ladies, in evident delight, 
exclaim, " The Junker Cadets ! " as the brave little 
fellows, with a great air of dignity and responsibility, 
take their places close to the walls of the Kremlin. Then 
we adniire the gay hussars, or martial lancers, or laugh 
at the grenadiers du pdlais, as they box the ears of the 
intrusive little boys, after the most approved London 
fashion. Finally, we all eat our luncheons, cultivate 
digestion, and patiently wait the hour of arrival. 

Three o'clock ! The magic number booms from the 



58 



THE LESGHIANS. THE PERSIANS. 



great clock of the Assumption ; the distant roar of the 
cannon at Petrovski comes rolling on the ear ; it is 
answered by the guns, and immediately the vigorous 
beadles of five hundred churches commence ding dong 
with bells great and smal], sonorous and shrill, gong-like 
and cymbal-like, until the tympanum is bewildered, and 
one imagines that nothing less than the approaching end 
of the world can have created such a clangour. Every 
eye is now strained, as aides-de-camp gallop past, soldiers 
fail into line, and priests in golden vestments emerge 
from their churches, and wait in their several vestibules 
the coming of the Czar. We had not long to wait, for 
soon the head of the grand procession bursts upon the 
view, and never in the grandest theatre spectacle was 
there seen a more gorgeous parade. First came the 
Lesghians of the Caucasus, covered from head to foot 
with bright chain armour, mounted on prancing Georgian 
horses, and looking as they rode past, lance in rest, and 
battle-axe in hand, like veritable knights of the crusades. 
Close behind followed the pale, slim Circassians, in their 
white caftans arid splendid turban s, and mounted on 
black horses as slim and graceful as themselves. 

Then we had the Persians of the district of Erivan, in 
conical black caps, as you may have seen them some 
night in the Speaker's gallery of the House of Commons, 
their little graceful figures glittering in the gold brocades 
of Shiraz and Teheran. They are the dandies, the 
veritable " swells" of the procession, and seem to have a 
sufficient consciousness of that interesting fact. A Tartar 
group follows in flowing robes of green velvet, embroi- 
dered in gold, and managing their mettlesome steeds as 
Tartars only can manage them. Lastly come the Min- 
grelians, in red tunics and strange little caps, compared 
to which a blue-coat boy's would be a sombrero ; and 
the avant-garde closes with strong squadrons of Cossacks 
of the line, and of the Ukraine. Following this most 
gallant and striking pageant came the representatives of 
the haute noblesse, splendidly dressed, and mounted on 



THE EMPEUOE, AND EMPRESS. 



59 



horses of immense price. Plumes waved in every 
direction, the trumpets sounded a fanfare, and these 
princes of the land, whose every name has its history, 
passed slowly on to the sacred gate. As you have long 
since had the programme, I shall not trouble you in 
detail about the Laquais, the Negres de la Cour, the 
Piqueurs or Yeneurs, and the running footmen, the 
latter, by the way, proceeding at the most leisurely pace 
possible. 

All eyes were now fixed on the Emperor, who, dressed 
in a general's uniform, and mounted on a magnificent 
grey charger, rode slowly into view. As he made his 
appearance the cheers were deafening, and when he 
stopped before the little church opposite the Kremlin, 
took off his golden casque, and piously received the bene-' 
dictions of the priests, the popular enthusiasm knew no 
bounds. His imperial Majesty looked well, though 
grave, sat his horse with grace and dignity, and fre- 
quently acknowledged the salutations of the people. 
Close behind followed his staff, a perfect army of generals 
and field-officers in the most varied and brilliant uniforms 
that can be imagined, and then in a long line the splen- 
did gilt carriages of which I have already forwarded yon 
a description. The first contained the Empress Mother, 
who was much cheered, and next followed that of the 
Imperatrice Regnante and the Czarovitch, being the 
beautifully carved antique English chariot, to which I 
have before alluded. These two were respectively drawn 
by eight horses, while the remainder, containing the 
dames d'honneur and officers of the court, had only six. 

The Empress wore the kakochnik, or national Russian 
head-dress, studded all over with diamonds, and her robe 
was a splendid compromise between the ancient Sclavonic 
tunic and the modern French toilette. Upon the tre- 
mendous springs that curled up in front of these two 
carriages, sat court pages in splendid dresses, their faces 
being turned towards the carriage. The effect was 
exceedingly good, and the young gentlemen got a very 



60 THE METROPOLITAN. THE EMPRESS MOTHER. 

large share of the public approbation. Attending upon 
the carriages of the two Empresses were strong squadrons 
of the Chevalier Gardes, the most magnificent cavalry in 
the world, — the horses of the private soldiers being quite 
equal in beauty and spirit to those of the officers. They 
certainly looked and rode splendidly ; and, as soldiers of 
parade, nothing could be finer. It took a long time to 
pass all these great personages and great carriages through 
the gate ; and it also took some time to descend, by an 
interminable and narrow flight of steps cut in the battle- 
mented wall, for those who had spent the morning on the 
ramparts. When I arrived at the quadrangle in which 
the Cathedral of the Assumption stands, the Emperor had 
already entered the church, the priests were chanting the 
Te Deum, and his Majesty performing the prescribed 
solemn rites of the Greek Church. He remained but a 
very few minutes, when a cortege was formed, and pro- 
ceeded across the quadrangle to the churches of St. 
Michael the Archangel, and of the Annunciation, where 
the sacred reliques were presented by the Emperor's 
confessor to his Majesty to kiss ; and his Majesty 
stopped for a moment to offer a prayer over the tombs 
of his ancestors. 

The Metropolitan wore vestments of golden tissue, the 
same as the priests, the only difference of costume being 
a peculiar head-dress, — the distinguishing mark, I pre- 
sume, of his high office. The whole ceremonial was 
exceedingly brief ; and at its conclusion, the whole court 
ascended by a broad flight of steps, covered with scarlet 
cloth, into the Palace of the Kremlin, where, of course, 
the pageant terminated, — in as far, at least, as the public 
were concerned. I observed with pain that the Empress 
mother, as she ascended the steps, was supported on both 
sides, and seemed to suffer much from weakness and 
exhaustion. In the evening, the Kremlin was partially 
illuminated, and flambeaux were arranged along some of 
the streets ; but it was merely a rehearsal preparatory to 
the great illumination which is to follow the coronation. 



THE TELEGRAPHIC MESSAGE. 



61 



Trie Seriate and the Arsenal looked exceedingly well 3 and 
attracted crowds of people, both in carnages and on foot, 
through which a small coupe dashed at a rapid pace, and 
on its approach to the strong light, disclosed to the 
delighted Russians the pleased features of their Emperor 
and Empress, who had thus come out in the most unpre- 
tending and confiding way, and entirely without escort, 
to witness the sight, as well as the rest of the people. It 
would be impossible to speak too strongly of the admirable 
order of the arrangements, the civility and good-humour 
of the soldiery, or the general deportment of the people. 

I subjoin, as a sort of curiosity in its way, the 
telegraphic message, by which the above letter was 
anticipated by above a week. It is one of the first 
instances in which the telegraphic wire was used in con- 
veying intelligence from the heart of the Prussian empire 
to a London newspaper. Although being of considerable 
length, and having to be transferred five times on its 
journey, it was received in London in about twenty-four 
hours from the time of dispatch. 

'BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.) 

Moscow, August 29. 
The morning of the day fixed upon for the solemn 
entry of the Emperor into Moscow was ushered in by 
louring clouds and rain. About mid-day, however, the 
sun broke through, and the afternoon has been bright, 
and calculated to show off the gorgeous procession to 
advantage. 

A little after mid-day a salvo of nine guns from a 
battery posted opposite the Tchoudow Convent, followed 
by a peal of bells from the Cathedral of the Assumption, 
gave the signal to all the bells of Moscow to begin 
jangling. Their deafening clang has continued ever 
since, and only those who have witnessed can imagine the 
noise and vibration of the air produced by such a mass of 
tintinnabulary metal. As soon as the hurricane of 



62 



THE TELEGRAPHIC MESSAGE. 



clangour broke out, actors and spectators of all ranks and 
degrees hurried to their posts. 

At 3i p.m. the Imperial procession left the Petrovsky 
Palace. First came a " Maitre de Police/' with twelve 
mounted gensd'arnies to clear the way. The Emperor 
was preceded by his body-guard in their magnificent 
uniforms, squadrons of Cossacks of the Black Sea, and of 
the regiment of Guards, the representatives of the haute 
noblesse on horseback, all in uniform ; the representatives 
of the Asiatic populations which acknowledge the 
sovereignty of Russia ; with valets, lacqueys, and run- 
ners of the court. After this mixture of European and 
Oriental costumes, came Masters of Ceremonies and 
others, with their badges of office. After this train, in 
which European and Oriental finery were strangely 
mingled, came Alexander Nicolaievitch, on horseback, 
attended by the Minister of his Household, the Minister 
of War, and his aides-de-camp. The Princes of the 
blood followed, all on horseback. A long train of 
splendid carriages next came in order, containing the 
Empress, the Empress Mother, the Grand Duchesses, 
and the Princess of Oldenburg, followed by their ladies 
of honour. Squadrons of Cuirassiers closed the pro- 
cession. 

At 4 p.m. precisely, a salvo of seventy-one guns 
announced that the Emperor was entering his ancient 
capital. The Military Governor- General of Moscow re- 
ceived his Majesty at the entrance of the city, at the 
head of his employes. The magistrates and the burghers 
received his Majesty at the entrance of the quarter called 
Zemlenoi Gorod. The Marshal, and the nobility of the 
government of Moscow, received him at the entrance of 
the quarter called Bieloi-Gorod. The Civil Governor, 
and the civil authorities of the city, were stationed to 
receive him at the gate of the Resurrection. Here a 
brief halt took place, during which the Emperor, the 
Empresses, and the Princes and Princesses of the blood, 
dismounted, and knelt before the image of Our Lady of 



THE TELEGRAPHIC MESSAGE. 



03 



Iberia. This ceremony over, the procession again moved 
onward ; was received at the gate of the Saviour by the 
Commandant of Moscow and his staff ; and, in front of 
the Cathedral of the Assumption, by the Directing Senate. 
All along the route of the procession the houses were 
decorated, and the clergy stationed at the gates of their 
respective churches, with their images and crosses. The 
acclamations of the assembled multitudes were enthusiastic, 
and distinctly heard above the din and clangour of the 
bells. 

The Emperor, the Empresses, the Princes, and the 
Princesses, descended from their horses and carriages in 
front of the Cathedral of the Assumption, at the stair 
which i^ called Krasnoe Kryltzo. Intelligence of this 
event was forthwith thundered forth by a salvo of 
eighty-five guns. The portion of the Imperial cortege 
which preceded their Majesties kept on their way round 
the cathedral, and such as had the entree entered it by 
the north gate. The officers of the court completed the 
circle of the building, and stationed themselves in front 
of the south gate, to await the coming out of their 
Majesties. The Holy Synod, and the functionaries of 
the cathedral, met their Majesties at the parvis, and pre- 
ceded them into the church, chanting the second canticle 
for Palm- week. After kissing the images and relics, 
their Majesties proceeded to the cathedrals of the Arch- 
angel Michael and the Annunciation, in both of which 
the ceremony of kissing the images and relics was gone 
through. In the cathedral of St. Michael they also pros- 
trated themselves before the tombs of his Maj esty's ancestors. 

On quitting the cathedrals, their Majesties, accom- 
panied by the court, walked to the Palace of the Kremlin. 
At its gate they were received by the court clergy, with 
the cross and holy water. The Archbishop of Moscow 
here presented the Emperor with bread and salt ; and 
immediately afterwards a salvo of 101 guns announced, 
at 5 p.m., that the Imperial family had entered the 
palace of their ancestors. 



64 



REVIEW OF TROOPS. 



The metallic hurricane from the innumerable churches 
still vibrates through the air and shakes the walls. At 
night the city is to be illuminated. 



LETTER X. 

REVIEW OF TROOPS. RAILWAYS IN RUSSIA. PERFORMANCE AT THE 

GRAND OPERA. 



Moscow, Monday, Sept. 1. 
The moment the public entry and the subsequent 
banquet at the Kremlin Palace had been disposed of, the 
imperial family, fatigued with the parade of state, retired 
to a villa of Count Sherametioff (the great Russian mil- 
lionaire, and owner of 300,000 serfs), situated about 
thirty-eight versts from Moscow, whence his Imperial 
Majesty comes occasionally to the camp to inspect the 
troops. On Saturday last he had all the cavalry out in 
detachments of three from each regiment,' — namely, an 
officer, a sergeant, and a private, and each trio went suc- 
cessively through the exercises. In the case of the regular 
cavalry, the practice was like that of the other European 
services, and exceedingly good ; but the wild, irregular 
Asian squadrons excited great interest by their peculiar 
motions and w r onderful dexterity. The mailed Lesghians 
flung away their battleaxes and picked them up again at full 
speed ; the little Cossacks charged with their long lances 
with extraordinary precision ; and the Circassians managed 
their beautiful horses in a way that would have done 
honour to Astley's or Franconi's. The appearance of the 
troops is certainly magnificent, they being all picked men, 
and splendidly mounted. One regiment of the Gardes- 
a-cheval mount all chestnut, another all black, another 
dapple-grey, and, with their w r hite uniforms, burnished 
cuirasses, and helmets, they almost dazzle one in the sun- 



REVIEW OF TROOPS, 



65 



shine. The most elaborate care seems to be taken of 
their toilettes. When drawn up in squadron or line, an 
officer may be seen going round, followed by a sergeant, 
brush, in hand, and minutely scanning the uniform of 
each soldier for a crease or a stain. The moment he 
discovers one he calls the sergeant, who commences 
smoothing and brushing, and finishes by combing out 
the horse-hair that adorns each helmet. The horses 
prance and curvet according to the most approved prin- 
ciples of the haute ecole, while the ladies clap their 
hands in admiration, and juvenile mujiks scream with 
delight. 

The horses themselves seem to enjoy the sport, and 
neigh in chorus with a depth of intonation which sober 
English troopers would in vain attempt to imitate. In 
short, military pageantry seems to be the great delight of 
all classes in this country. To-day, to-morrow, and 
Wednesday, there are to be grand reviews, but, as 
to-morrow is to be the grandest, I defer my visit to 
the camp until then, my hands being quite full of other 
matters. The town is very full both of Russians and 
strangers, but it is expected that the week following 
the coronation will end in a general clearance, as even 
the most gorgeous spectacles pall by constant repetition. 

Pending the coronation fetes, the great fair of Xishni 
Novogorod has been going on in full activity. I should, 
perhaps, have visited it, being only two days' journey 
from Moscow, but that I learnt there was great difficulty 
and delay in getting horses for the return journey. How- 
ever, I am informed by visitors, who had been tempted 
to take the trip by the glowing descriptions of the hand- 
books, that it is an exceedingly prosaic affair, and the 
inconvenience to which strangers are exposed beyond de- 
scription. In that choice locality the famous Russian bug 
flourishes in full vigour and ferocity, sucking well condi- 
tioned Englishmen to the bone, while the eating and 
living accommodations are of the most primitive character. 
As to the picturesque variety of Asiatic costumes, it is all 



66 



SAIL WAYS IX RUSSIA. 



moonshine, the Tartars being the universal middlemen 
for the Chinese, Persian, and Indian trades, and offering 
no novelty to any one who has been in St. Petersburg or 
Moscow. The principal articles of traffic are Siberian 
iron and manufactured metal from Tula, which are 
exchanged for caravan tea and Chinese and Persian silks. 
I understand that, like all other great fairs, the Xishni 
begins to exhibit symptoms of decline, modern commerce 
rinding more rapid and frequently recurring means of 
carrying on its transactions. It is possible, however, 
that when the railway from Moscow is finished, the more 
modern Xovogorod, like its kindred holy city, may expe- 
rience a revival. This year's fair has, I believe, been 
below the average. 

Apropos des bottes. I may mention that the coronation 
has attracted to St. Petersburg and Moscow an immense 
contingent of railway speculators and contractors from 
England, America, France, and Belgium, all anxious 
to ascertain the intentions of the Imperial Government 
with respect to the construction of great arterial lines. 

The great line from Moscow to Warsaw is in course of 
construction under the auspices of the government, and 
another equally gigantic undertaking, the Moscow and 
Odessa line, is under consideration. The point of uncer- 
tainty is, I believe, not whether it shall be made, as thai 
is determined on, but whether it shall be a government 
work or be conceded to a company. I understand that Mr. 
Edwin Clarke, an English engineer, has received instruc- 
tions to have plans and estimates producible in February 
next (the same instructions being, I suppose, given to 
other competitors), when a final answer will be given. 
The general opinion here, in all well-informed quarters, 
is, first, that railways in this country will be expensive in 
construction, from the immense cost of the transport of 
material, the boggy character of much of the terrain, and 
other local obstacles which I need not more particularly 
allude to ; secondly, it is feared that although ultimately 
sure to be productive, they must for a long time exist 



RAILWAYS LN" RUSSIA. 



G7 



only on a government guarantee, and that, pending the 
growth of traffic, such guarantee will be a heavy drag on 
the imperial revenues. At present the population is 
sparsely scattered over an immense extent of territory, 
and would therefore offer but a small contingent of pas- 
sengers, the approved and settle basis of railway dividends. 
However, on the other hand, I may myself observe that 
the cost of goods transit is at present so great, as to make 
dead-weight almost as expensive as passengers. The only 
present means of internal transit is by the rudely-con- 
structed telega, by bullocks and by water carriage : so that, 
if the price of corn in St. Petersburg be six roubles the 
chetwert, three of them go for carriage from the place of 
production to the port of shipment. It is said that fifteen 
kopecks would be an amply remunerative railway-toll. 
It is the same with wood for fuel, an article only next to 
bread in importance here, since five-sixths of the price, 
which is enormous, go for cost of bringing it to market. 
Besides, it is impossible to say what stimulus might not 
be given to passenger-traffic, by the presence of novel 
facilities. Thirdly, it is universally conceded that the 
railroad system in Pussia must spread itself out between 
Moscow and the Black Sea, as in that direction lie all 
the fertile land, ail the great manufacturing towns, and 
much of the most active and intelligent population. The 
probability is that the Russian government — should it 
entertain any comprehensive scheme of railway com- 
munication — will, in the first instance, take military 
exigency into consideration, a thing, however, not much 
to be regretted, as military exigency fortunately jumps 
with the theory above laid down, and it is almost 
certain that military railroads, in spite of the first inten- 
tion, will soon be turned to better and more legitimate 
uses. I need not tell you the important part the Volga 
fills in the internal transit of Pussia, and that that river 
must be carefully considered by any one who sets about 
constmcting a railway map of the country. But let no 
one rush into railway speculation, as regards this part of 

F 2 



68 



RAILWAYS IN RUSSIA. 



the world, in the hope of bringing these schemes to a 
speedy maturity. The imperial government has been 
rendered exceedingly timid and suspicious of foreign 
contractors by the American contract for the 6 c Remonte " 
of the Moscow—a transaction of which they speak in terms 
that are certainly more explicit than complimentary. 

As a proof of this caution, I can cite the Emperor's 
own words, uttered only yesterday during a presentation. 
It is usual with his Majesty when strangers are presented 
to ask them " Whether this is their first visit to Russia, 
and what has attracted them 1 " On the occasion to 
which I allude, the question was put to a Belgian, who 
promptly answered that he came with a view to the esta- 
blishment of railways. "Ah. ! " said the Emperor, "we 
w r ant railways, but we must wait two or three years yet." 
The same question was subsequently put by the Empress 
to the same individual, and, on receiving the same 
answer, her Majesty said, "Yes, we want railways much; 
but I fear the country is too large for us to think of 
them." The above observations, on the authenticity of 
which you may rely, go far to show that there is no dis- 
position to undue haste in railway matters existing in 
high places. Before parting with this not very " graphic," 
but still rather important topic, and descending from 
principles to details, I find it impossible to get any exact 
information respecting the Dunaburg and Riga line, a 
matter of some interest to English speculators. I under- 
stand that whatever difficulty exists arose in this way. 
The capital was first fixed at twenty million silver roubles, 
upon which the government guaranteed four per cent. 
Subsequently, the contractors reduced the estimate to 
sixteen millions, holding out to the shareholders the hope 
of getting five instead of four per cent., on the presump- 
tion that the Russian Government would hold to the 
gross guarantee ; but to this the latter demurred, and 
hence the delay. The last report is, that the matter has 
been finally settled by the contractors accepting the 
reduced guarantee. 



THE GRAND OPERA. 



69 



So much for the railway coronation visitors and their 
projects. Returning to my more legitimate department, 
I shall conclude my letter with a detailed programme of 
the remaining coronation " business," which I have just 
obtained from a reliable Russian source ; — 20th, 21st, 
22nd (Greek time), reviews ; 23rd, 24th, 25th, proclama- 
tion ; 26th, coronation, illumination, and for following 
two days ; 27th, 28th, 29th, congratulations from various 
public bodies, including the Russian lord mayors ; 30th, 
grand procession to church ; evening, spectacle gala at 
the theatre. 

Then follows a long list of balls, imperial and ambas- 
sadorial, until the 12th of September ; open-air fete to 
the people ; then more dinners and balls down to the 
18th, when all will finish with the feux d' artifice. 

Monday Night, 
I have just returned from the Grand Opera, which 
was opened for the first time this evening with Bosio, 
Lablache, Calzolari, and other London favourites. The 
appearance of this magnificent theatre when lighted up 
and filled with a brilliant audience fully realised the ex- 
pectations expressed in a former letter. It has five rows 
of boxes, with twenty-eight boxes in each row, and to 
each loge there is a retiring room as large as many a 
London drawing-room. The pit is all divided into com- 
fortable stalls, and in no case are more tickets issued 
than the house will conveniently accommodate, a hint 
that might be taken with great advantage by the 
managers of our London houses. What with the elabo- 
rate gold scroll-work, raised on a ground-work of delicate 
green, the richly carved pillars and pilasters, the scarlet 
velvet lining of the boxes, and the exquisitely painted 
drop scene, the interior of the imperial theatre presented 
a coup d'ceil such as one could hardly have expected at a 
distance of 2000 miles from London. But when I add 
that the audience was mainly composed of officers in 



70 THE GRAND OPERA, BOSIO AND LABLACHE. 

gorgeous uniforms, and ladies in grand toilette, you can 
easily imagine how surpassing must have been the general 
effect. It only wanted the presence of the Emperor and 
Empress, whose box is a little palace in itself, to make 
the picture complete. The embassies of the great powers 
were well represented, the French filling one box on the 
grand tier, and the English another. Amongst the latter 
T recognised Lady Emily Peel, Lord Ward, Messrs. Fane 
and Currie, &c. The two ambassadors were also present, 
Lord Granville in a box, and Lord Wodehouse in a pit- 
stall. They left early, there being, I believe, a ball at 
the embassy. The opera was "Puritani," in which 
Bosio's singing so delighted the Russians that she was 
called several times before the curtain. Lablache looked 
stupendous, and rivalled the Greek priests in the 
depths of his intonation, and the rest of the performers 
acquitted themselves respectably. There were no en- 
cores, an admirable practice ; and when the opera was 
over, the audience could go home without suffering 
the purgatory of an interminable ballet. The performance 
of the orchestra of 150 performers was worthy of all 
praise. 

I have just room to mention that Mr. "William Glad- 
stone and some other English civilians were presented 
yesterday. 



LETTER XI. 

THE PARADE OF THE TROOPS. THE RECEPTION AT THE KREMLIN". 

— THE PROCLAMATION. 



Moscow, Thursday, Sept. 4. 
Besides being everywhere at the same time, like Sir 
Boyle Roche's bird, a special correspondent, writing in 
Moscow at the present moment, would require a most 
extraordinary amount of application to keep his narrative 



THE PARADE OF THE TROOPS. THE ASIATICS. 71 

abreast of the actual events, so rapidly do they succeed 
each other, and so difficult is it to obtain information as 
to their whereabouts and times of occurring. However. 
I must do the best I can, which will be to describe what 
ha3 taken place since my last under separate heads, as it 
has occurred in very widely separated localities. 

THE PARADE OF THE TROOPS. 

Early in the week the camp at Petrovski was one day 
suddenly disturbed by a general call to arms, with the 
important additional information that the Emperor and 
imperial family were coming in person to the inspection. 
A grand tent was immediately prepared, the imperial 
standard was run up at head-quarters, and for a whole 
morning there was nothing to be seen everywhere but 
polishing, pipe-claying, and grooming the horses. The 
rappel came rolling in from every side ; dense masses of 
infantry and brilliant squadrons of cavalry might be seen 
hurrying to their different allotted stations, while the 
grim artillery lumbered heavily along, exciting general 
admiration by the beauty of the horses and the complete- 
ness of the appointments. The infantry dotted the vast 
evolution field in heavy columns, the favourite position 
of the Russian army, and right and left were the cavalry 
and artillery, the former being distinguished by the large 
stature of the men, the superiority of the horses, and 
the great splendour and variety of their uniform. 

But the most attractive and picturesque of the horse 
soldiers were the Asiatics, who rather grouped than 
formed in large numbers over various parts of the ground. 
There were the mailed Lesghians, the white-robed Cir- 
cassians, the savage Koord, the lithe little Cossack, and 
(the latest edition) the " Battalion of Balaclava," all 
Greeks, and dressed in the beautiful costume of the 
Albanians. The day was exceedingly fine, and there was 
ample opportunity for taking in the whole of the imposing 
spectacle at a glance — grey infantry, brilliant, glistening 



72 THE REGIMENT OF THE EMPEROR PAUL, 

cavalry, and many-coloured and savage-looking Asiatics. 
So large is the field that, although there were perhaps 
120,000 men on the ground, the force appeared to be of 
moderate dimensions, and it was not until they began to 
defile that their real numbers could be appreciated. 

The Emperor, Empress, Grand Dukes, and a brilliant 
suite came on the ground a little before twelve o'clock, 
and were shortly afterwards followed by the embassies, 
Count de Morny on horseback, and Lord Granville in his 
state carriage. The Imperial family alighted at the tent 
prepared for them, and directly after the Emperor and 
Grand Dukes mounted their horses, the latter placing 
themselves in first-rate military style at the heads of 
their respective regiments. They are fine boys, ride well, 
and are great favourites with the soldiers. With such a 
force, anything like lengthened or complicated evolutions 
was out of the question during the space of time the 
Emperor could afford before dinner, and therefore the 
whole business of the day consisted of "marching past," 
an operation that took fully three hours in the per- 
formance, The infantry, including the whole of the foot- 
guards, marched at ordinary time, and there was ample 
opportunity for critically observing their appearance. 
They are tall, most of them strong and martial-looking, 
but still there are a great many young recruits, the 
terrible typhus having on the frontiers of Poland carried 
off upwards of 15,000 of the veterans. There is one 
regiment, first formed by the Emperor Paul, that still 
wears the conical cap and gaiters of the time, and it is 
said that the men are all carefully selected, with noses 
the reverse of Roman, it being considered that a sort of 
massive pug suits best with the peakless shako of the 
olden time. Whether from chance or selection, I can 
vouch for the fact that the noses are terrific, and that 
being so, they harmonise wonderfully with the antiquated 
head-gear. So anxious are the military authorities that this 
rather singular-looking regiment should preserve its origi- 
nal characteristics, that the modern helmets are in many 



THE GRAND CHARGE. 



73 



cases perforated as if by musket bullets, in imitation of the 
original ones which had been so marked in the old time. 

Of the splendour of the cavalry I have more than once 
spoken, and of course they never looked better than on this 
grand gala day, when they were assembled to do honour 
to the coronation of their Emperor. The parade terminated 
with a grand charge, in which upwards of 12,000 dragoons 
made the ground tremble under their horses' hoofs, and a 
whole cloud of the picturesque eastern irregulars darted, 
wheeled, checked, dismounted, shook their spears, and 
mounted again in less time than it has taken me to write 
down the fact. The agility of these men is surprising. 
At one time, bent down to the saddle-bow, they seem to 
swoop like eagles ; at another they check their horses in 
mid career, jump from their saddles, let their horses go, 
and in a minute they are up again, riding, clinging, and 
some standing on the croup, bolt upright ; their long 
caftans streaming in the wind, and the flashing sword or 
bright battle-axe flourishing about their heads. 

As a last manoeuvre, the regular cavalry formed in 
great squadrons, galloped furiously up to the spot where 
the Emperor sat on horseback, surrounded by a brilliant 
staff, and then, suddenly checking their horses, they 
drew their sabres, waved them round their heads, and 
shouted with one voice, " Zdrova Jeliem" — "I wish you 
health, Czar" — as they passed off again like a whirlwind. 
The effect of this was peculiarly fine, as the Russian 
language, although looking rather strange on paper, is 
sweet and musical to the ear, while the men have nearly 
all deep and powerful voices. The sound of the first 
salute burst suddenly upon the ear, then seemed to 
diminish as if carried away with the departing squadron, 
and anon was taken up by its successors, until the whole 
of 12,000 of the finest cavalry in the world had thus in 
this fine soldierly style saluted their Emperor. The whole 
proceedings did not terminate until half -past three o'clock, 
when tents were struck, and the Emperor and Empress, 
uirrounded by a splendid cavalcade, returned to town. 



74 THE RECEPTION AT THE KREMLIN PALACE. 

THE RECEPTION AT THE KREMLIN PALACE. 

On Tuesday the Empress and Empress Mother did the 
honours at the Kremlin Palace, the Emperor being in 
religious retirement as a preliminary to his solemn coro- 
nation. The palace itself, which is one of the great sights 
of Moscow, has been for some weeks closed against the 
curious, and it was not until the reception took place 
that the strangers had an opportunity of seeing its magni- 
ficent interior. On first entering, you find a truly imperial 
staircase of Parian, and porphyry, and jasper, and mala- 
chite, leading to the grand suite of saloons in which state 
festivals and receptions are held. First, there is the hall 
of St. George, in white and gold, where the famous 
soldiers of the empire dine on great occasions, and where 
each general has his niche adorned with his name and 
those of his ancestors who have deserved well of their 
country. This is a sort of earthly Walhalla, to obtain a 
seat in which is almost a military immortality. Then 
there are the halls of St. Andrew and St. Vladimir, in 
which the chapters of the respective orders are held, 
and the decorations of which are fanciful arrangements 
of the insignia of the orders in gold and gems, and 
lapis lazuli, producing an effect which words would in 
vain attempt to realise. The eye literally ached under 
the glitter: and when, having passed through the state 
bedroom of Catherine the Great, we found ourselves in 
the old-fashioned concert-room, surrounded by half naked 
mujiks scrubbing the parqueterie floor with brushes on 
their feet, after the manner of the Parisian frotteurs, the 
sensation was positively one of relief. 

The concert-room is low and antiquated, and the little 
orchestra in the corner would hardly accommodate even a 
modern ophecleide. From the modern palace of the 
Emperor to the ancient one of the Czars is but a step ; 
but what pages of Russian history are written on the 
interval ! The interiors of the Terema and Granovitaya 
Palata resemble more than anything else the. casemates 



THE PROCLAMATION. 



75 



of a fortress. But the walls are whimsically and elabo- 
rately decorated, and the subdued light, struggling in 
through small windows of stained glass, discloses in every 
corner some shrine or picture sacred to Russian piety. It 
is to the coronation-hall in the Granovitaya Palata the 
Emperor will repair after the coronation, and dine sur- 
rounded by the very cream of his nobility. Those who 
had the good fortune to see Queen Victoria supping in 
the crypt at Guildhall may form a very good idea of the 
arrangements of the Emperor's coronation banquet. All 
is already prepared, the ancient historical plate is ar- 
ranged ; but for the present everything is sealed up, and 
only to be seen with the greatest difficulty. 

The reception took place in the large palace, and was 
attended by many of the English visitors, to all of whom 
the two Empresses were most affable. To Sir Robert 
Peel, the Empress Mother said, " Ah, you are the son of 
my Lord Peel ; " and to Mr. William Gladstone, " Yours 
is a well-known name in Pussia." The carriages of the 
various embassies made a grand display, the most notice- 
able being the French, English, and that of the Prince de 
Ligne. It was generally admitted that the English equi- 
page surpassed all others in substantial grandeur, and 
Lord Granville's horses and footmen were generally 
admired ; the latter perhaps as having calves to their 
legs, an appendage in which the French " Jeames 99 is 
singularly deficient. There was a considerable crowd 
about the entrance, but they were very orderly and 
quiet, as compared with an English mob. The poor mujik 
is certainly one of the most docile animals in the world. 
His elysium is the top of a well-heated stove to sleep on, 
and his nectar the " Tschai," which willing hands are 
always brewing here for the proprietors of loose kopecks. 

THE PROCLAMATION. 

This morning (Thursday), people were hurrying from 
all quarters to the Kremlin, to hear the proclamation, 



70 



THE PROCLAMATION. 



the details of which you have had long since in the pub- 
lished programme. It was quite impossible to get into 
the Kremlin, where the first proclamation was made, so 
narrow are the various gates, and so much were they 
blocked up with carriages ; but the cavalcade was seen to 
great advantage emerging from the sacred gate — generals, 
heralds, and soldiers all simultaneously making reverence 
to the holy picture overhead. The generals wore splendid 
uniforms, and were covered with orders ; the heralds had 
as many colours in their tabards as we see in England, 
and the led horses champed and foamed in the hands of 
the grooms who led them unwilling through the gate. 
The whole procession drew up close to the bronze group 
of Prince Pojarsky and Minin, in the centre of the 
" Beautiful Place,' 9 and the herald read, like a Russian 
stentor, the following brief proclamation : — 

" Our very august, very high, and very powerful Lord, 
the Emperor Alexander Nicolaievitch, having ascended 
the hereditary throne of his ancestors, that of all the 
Pussias, together with those of the Kingdom of Poland 
and the Grand Duchy of Finland, which are inseparable 
from it, has deigned to order that the coronation of his 
Imperial Majesty, and his consecration, shall take place 
on the 26th day of the month of August ; and that his 
august spouse, the Empress Marie Alexandrovna, shall 
participate in that holy ceremony. This solemn act is' 
announced by the present proclamation to all his faithful 
subjects, in order that on that happy day they may 
redouble the fervour of their prayers to the King of 
Kings to diffuse by His Almighty will. His favours and 
blessings over the reign of his Majesty : and that pending 
its duration, He may maintain peace and tranquillity, to 
the glory of His holy name, and for the unalterable 
prosperity of the Empire." 

The moment the herald had read the proclamation, he 
commenced throwing lithographed copies of it in the 
Russian language, amongst the people ; and from a 
mujik, who by superior strength and agility had possessed 



THE CEOWXING OF THE EMPEEOE. 



77 



himself of a whole sheaf of them, T purchased the copy 
which I enclose. 

The crowd was very great, and the mounted gensd'armes 
had some difficulty in keeping the necessary space clear, 
but all was quiet and orderly, as I have invariably 
observed to be the case since my arrival in Russia. The 
ceremony will be repeated to-niorrow and on Saturday, 
the herald stopping and reading the proclamation at all 
the most public places in the city. The anxiety to 
witness the coronation hourly increases. As for the 
cathedral itself, it contains seats for only 480 persons : 
and as there are about 5000 who have a recognised 
right to be there, it is quite out of the question that 
any strangers will get admission. But the quadrangle in 
which the church stands has been surrounded with hand- 
some galleries, and for seats in one of these the price to- 
day is 100 silver roubles. It is a perquisite of the 
church, I believe, and will therefore, I suppose, as is the 
case in other lands, be made the most of. 

English visitors continue to pour in, one of the latest 
arrivals being Captain Percival Robbins. Q. M. , who is 
attached to Lord Granville's suite, and who has been to 
London and back since my arrival in Russia. 



LETTEK XII. 

THE CROWNING OF THE EM PEE OR. 



Moscow, Sept. S. 
To enable the English reader to understand the outline 
which it shall be my endeavour to give of the august cere- 
monial of yesterday, it will be necessary in the first instance 
to sketch slightly the different, although contiguous, local- 
ities in which the various portions of the imperial pro- 
gramme were carried out. Ear within the battlemented 
walls of the Kremlin, and surrounded by large public 
buildings, such as the Senate and the Arsenal, is a rather 



78 THE CROWNING OF THE EMPEROR. THE CHURCH. 

contracted court, three sides of which are mainly occupied 
by the Uspenski Sabor, or Church of the Assumption, 
the churches of the Archangel Michael and of the Annun- 
ciation, and the old and new Kremlin Palaces. The 
fourth opens upon an extensive esplanade, which in its 
turn commands the Moskwa river, and beyond it one of 
the finest urban panoramas that can possibly be imagined. 
Were it not that it would be a mistake in art to distract 
the attention from the great central point of view — 
the coronation itself — whole columns might be written 
about the innumerable gilded spires, grotesque cupolas, 
and palatial mansions that may be taken in from this 
spot at a glance, scattered as they are in rich profusion 
on the further bank of the modest river that gives its 
name to the ancient capital of Russia. But our business 
is with the important events connected with the corona- 
tion itself, and all raptures concerning magnificent 
prospects must be reserved for some future occasion. 

The coronation, as all the world knows, takes place in 
the Church of the Assumption, and about this the reader 
must learn something before he can follow the elaborate 
ceremonial of which it was yesterday the scene. Accor- 
ding to our notion of churches, the interior of the 
Uspenski Sabor is small indeed, scarcely accommodating 
500 persons ; but still its great height and deep inter- 
secting arches give it a most imposing appearance, while 
the Byzantine pictures and gilding with which its walls 
are entirely covered, and the costly shrines and monu- 
ments which it contains, subdue the mind by the sheer 
force of their material splendour, and leave one puzzled 
as to whether he ought to smile at their barbaric taste, 
or reverently bow to their mystic symbolism. Two or 
three thousand pictures of saints and heroes stud the 
walls so closely that no interstice can be detected between 
their heavily gilded frames, and, from the centre of the 
dim lantern which forms the sole means of illumination, 
a colossal half-length of the Saviour looks down benign- 
antly on His, at all events, sincerely reverent worshippers 



THE KREMLIN PALACE. 



79 



below. The roof is supported by four immense pillars, 
wholly out of proportion to the dimensions of the church, 
covered from top to bottom with the frescoed traditions 
of the Greek church, lapped, as it were, in a gilded scroll 
continuously round the circumference. Within these 
four pillars stood the costly estrade upon which the cere- 
monial took place, and upon the decoration of which all 
the art, taste, and resources of the empire had been 
lavished. Crimson velvet, gold brocade, gems of immense 
value, gold and silver furniture, including the ancient 
throne of the Czar, contributed to swell the magnificence 
of this small enclosure ; and over head hung a gorgeous 
canopy, plumed with white ostrich feathers, and suspen- 
ded by numerous gold and silver cords from the lofty 
ceiling. A heavily gilt and massive balustrade sur- 
rounded this estrade, within which no one was to enter 
but the Emperor and Empress, the Empress-Mother, the 
Metropolitan of Moscow, and, at one moment, the ladies 
of honour who were to arrange the small crown on the 
head of the Empress. On one side was a gallery covered 
with scarlet cloth for the diplomatic body ; on the other 
a similar one for the ladies of the great ecclesiastical 
dignitaries of the empire ; and at the back of the throne 
a third, for the haute noblesse, and such official notabilities 
as had the privilege of the entree. 

With the church the Kremlin Palace communicates, 
exteriorly, by a grand flight of steps, and if you add a 
broad platform, extending from the base of the point of 
junction, and making a long sweep to include the exterior 
esplanade, and thus give the people an opportunity of 
" assisting " at the coronation of their sovereign, you 
will be able to form a tolerably correct idea of the site 
covered by the ceremonial of which I am about to 
attempt some imperfect details. I should add that, for 
the purposes of the coronation, the fourth side of the 
court had been filled by a temporary wooden screen, 
handsomely draped, and pierced with two lofty gateways, 
through one of which the imperial procession emerged at 



80 CROWNING OF THE EMPEROR. INSIDE THE CHURCH. 

the termination of the coronation, and by the other of 
which it returned en route to the Kremlin Palace. In 
this court were the galleries for the elite of the spectators, 
the admission to which was by tickets, the price of which 
varied according to proximity from twenty-five to fifty, 
and for one gallery even one hundred roubles. Six 
o'clock in the morning was an early hour to be afoot, for 
people exhausted by previous spectacles, but at any later 
hour the chance of admission was exceedingly problem- 
atical ; and even then each entrance- gate of the Kremlin 
was a scene of the most extraordinary confusion, in con- 
sequence of a rule of which nobody had before heard, 
refusing admission to all except those who came in 
carriages and pairs. I who had, with immense trouble, 
procured a most unpretending drotschky, had a regular 
pugilistic encounter with the Budishnik before I got 
through, and to this moment do not know whether I may 
not be the defendant in an action for assault, battery, 
and forcible entrance. 

Once within, however, the scene was most exciting. 
There were crowds of well-dressed people, groups of 
mujiks, and pelotons of cavalry, mixed up in the most 
admired confusion. On every side drums were beating, 
colours fly in g, and trumpets braying the various notes of 
command peculiar to the Russian service. The whole of 
the esplanade seemed paved with parasols, above which 
here and there fluttered the banner of some guild, whose 
privilege it was to get thus near the grand ceremonial, 
and whose organisation and costume reminded me strongly 
of an Odd Fellows' procession in Ed gland. Here and 
there also the wiry little Cossack, mounted on his equally 
why little horse, wound in and out through the crowd, 
keeping order as best he could, and constantly exchanging 
sentences, obviously not taken from Chesterfield, with 
the spectators whom he disturbed. For this outer space 
sixty thousand tickets had been issued, and if you add 
twenty thousand more, who either evaded, or forced, or 
bribed their way in, you will come pretty near the actual 



THE CROWNING OF THE EMPEROR. THE COMPANY. 81 

number of civilians who were spectators of the coronation 
procession. As for the military of all branches of the 
service, and gendarmes, I make no attempt to count or 
classify them, but they stood everywhere in close masses, 
and might have formed a very respectable army in 
themselves. 

In the inner court the crowd was much less, the price 
of tickets seeming to have had rather a cooling effect on 
public curiosity ; but still there was a large number of 
fashionably dressed people in the galleries, and the flagged 
centre was filled with a heterogeneous mixture of ladies, 
gentlemen, gardes a cheval and a pied, Cossacks, Tcher- 
kesses, Koords, negroes, priests, and military bands. On 
the platform which I have before mentioned, none were 
permitted to walk but persons in uniform ; and here I 
recognised Mr. William Gladstone, Mr. Bankes (son to 
the late member for Dorsetshire,) and his young brother, 
(an officer of the St. Jean D'Acre,) with two or three 
other Englishmen, who, in virtue of their yeomanry, or 
militia habiliments, had been permitted thus to mingle 
with the Russian militaires, and to emulate them in fierce- 
ness of strut, and brusqueness of soldierly demeanour. 

At seven o'clock a salute of twenty-one guns from the 
walls of the Kremlin announced that the great business of 
the day was about to begin, and the officials threw open 
that gate of the church by which public functionaries and 
ambassadors were to enter. The sweepers and dusters 
had just given the interior the last finishing touch, and a 
reverend father might be seen hurrying to the corner in 
which is placed the silver coffin of (I believe) St. Philip, 
of which he was for that day to be the guardian. His 
reverence took his seat on the steps, but every moment 
had to rise and lift the ponderous silver lid, as a smartly- 
dressed official, or fierce-looking general, came to bend 
low before the shrine, or devoutly kiss the effigy of the 
departed saint. The holy father was most polite and 
communicative to strangers, but as he spoke in Russ, 
while they spoke English, you may imagine the additions 

G 



82 



THE PRINCESS OF MINGKELIA. 



made by the interlocutors to their respective stores of 
information. One little incident in this sacred corner 
was strongly illustrative of the spirit of tolerance that 
honourably distinguishes the Greek church. While the 
Russians only approached the shrine in the most humble 
and obsequious manner, barely venturing to touch the 
velvet-covered steps with their foreheads, a stranger was 
politely requested to sit thereon, and nobody seemed to 
take notice of the incongruity. But I must not linger, 
for there is still much to be told. 

The privileged visitors began now to drop in, and one 
of the first was the Princess of Mingrelia, who has 
recently arrived in Moscow by imperial invitation, and 
who is one of the reigning lionnes of the place. Her 
highness, who is a remarkably fine woman, of about thirty 
years of age, was gorgeously dressed in gold brocade, 
with a broad blue sash, on the shoulder-knot of which 
she wore the Order of St. Katherine in diamonds, con- 
ferred on her for her distinguished feats of arms when 
Omer Pacha ravaged her mountain kingdom, and on her 
head a splendid coronet of emeralds and rubies. She 
was accompanied by her son, the reigning prince, a fine 
little boy eight years old, dressed as an aide-de-camp of 
the Emperor, an honour which had been conferred on his 
little highness only the previous day. Hearing that some 
" special correspondents" had ventured within the sacred 
precincts, her highness sent her interpreter to the repre- 
sentative of a well-known continental journal, requesting 
a few minutes' conversation. It is needless to add that 
the gentleman in question was only too ready to obey the 
summons, and was excessively surprised to find that her 
highness was fully acquainted with and duly appreciated 
the functions of the Fourth Estate. She told him, in 
excellent French, that she hoped herself and her dress 
would be noticed in the journal he represented, and 
detailed her heroic struggles against Omer Pacha, who, 
she said, had plundered and ravaged her little kingdom. 
Her highness then returning to the great question for 



PHIL A. RET THE METROPOLITAN. 



83 



which the newspaper plenipotentiary had been summoned 
to an audience, said, with much naivete, " Comment me 
trouvez vous ? The gentleman was of course ebloui, 
and the interview terminated with a pressing invitation 
for self and friends to the chateau in the Caucase, if they 
ever should happen to pass in that direction. 

The church now began to fill. Lord and Lady Gran- 
ville, accompanied by the Marchioness of Stafford and 
Lady Emily Peel, were amongst the first arrivals ; Lord 
Wodehouse, accompanied by Mr. Julian Fane, came 
shortly after, and the doorway was soon completely filled 
by the French Embassy in brilliant uniforms ; and, 
mingled with them, were Sir Robert Peel, and one or two 
other English faces. The Count de Morny took the 
right ; next to him Lord Granville ; then Prince Ester- 
hazy ; and lastly, the Prince de Ligne ; the other ambas- 
sadors getting seats as best they could, without any order 
of precedency. Immediately behind Lord Granville, sat 
Lord Wodehouse and Mr. Fane ; and on the same and 
hinder benches, the ladies of the several Embassies. By 
this time forty Bishops of the Empire had assembled 
between the estrade and the shrine of the Virgin, and, 
assisted by their attendant priests, were invoking Heaven 
in favour of the Emperor. Nothing could be more mag- 
nificent than the robes ; nothing more venerable than the 
appearance of these prelates. At their head was Philaret, 
Metropolitan of Moscow, the most distinguished name in 
the Russian Church, distinguished for piety, for learning, 
and for the physical vigour that at an advanced period of 
life enables him to continue in the active discharge of his 
episcopal duties. The golden shrine of the Virgin lay 
open, containing her portrait, — said to be painted by St. 
Luke, and studded with jewels of immense size and 
value. Wax tapers were burning ; incense was rising in 
clouds ; choristers and priests were chaunting most hea- 
venly music ; when the hum of the people without, and 
the roar of artillery, announced an imperial arrival. It 
was the Empress Mother ; who, although broken down 

a 2 



84 



THE TURKISH ENVOYS. 



with, ill-health and sorrow, had come thousands of miles 
to assist at the coronation of her son. 

Nothing can be more touching or creditable to the 
Russian people than the affection and respect which they 
always exhibit towards this illustrious lady ; and never 
was it more conspicuous than on the day of the corona- 
tion, when, both within and without the church, she was 
almost overwhelmed with demonstrations of attachment. 
Her Majesty, who was accompanied by a brilliant cortege, 
immediately took her seat on the throne allotted to her 
on the estrade. 

There was now a slight stir at the side-door. It was 
the Turkish envoys asking admittance. They were 
obliged, however, to go to a gallery specially prepared 
for them outside ; as the rules of the Greek Church do 
not permit the entrance of any one who cannot kneel 
before the true cross. Another salvo of artillery, another 
chorus of almost divine harmony from the choristers, and 
the Emperor and Empress arrived at the grand grille of 
the church. His imperial Majesty wore a general's 
uniform, and marched under a magnificent canopy sup- 
ported by sixteen Majors General, the ends being held 
by sixteen Lieutenants General. The Metropolitans of 
Moscow and Novogorod proceeded to the gate to wel- 
come his Majesty, — the first to bestow a blessing, and 
the second to sprinkle the imperial pair with holy 
water. They were followed by a gorgeously-attired cor- 
tege, amid which might be recognised the Panins, Dol- 
gourokis, Gortchakoffs, and other names familiar to the 
students of Bussian history. The gallant defender of 
Sebastopol looked as well, and nearly as young, as when, 
four years since, he stood over the open grave of the 
Duke of Wellington, in St. Paul's Cathedral. Then there 
were the Asiatic tributary princes, in their magnificent 
costume ; and, finally, the generals who had the right to 
occupy so distinguished a position. At the entrance, the 
Emperor kissed the cross, and, subsequently, the hand of 
the prelate, who tendered it with the palm upwards, — 



THE EMPEROR CROWNS HIMSELF. 



85 



the mode in which this salutation is performed in the 
Greek Church. The Empress was followed by a fair bevy 
of maids of honour, in Parisian versions of the Russian 
national costume. They looked most captivating in their 
kakochniks ; but the fairest of the fair was the young 
Princess Sherematieff, the granddaughter of a serf. The 
Emperor and Empress, having duly made reverence at 
the sanctuary and before the sacred images, now slowly 
ascended the estrade, and the ceremonial of the coronation 
commenced. For the circumstantial details, I must refer you 
to the programme which has already been published, con- 
fining myself to the more remarkable incidents of the day.* 
The imperial pair being seated on the ancient thrones of 
the Czars, the regalia was properly arranged, and another 
burst of divine harmony came from the choir. The 
Metropolitan then presented a profession of faith, which 
his imperial Majesty must read, and which he did read 
on this occasion with due emphasis and discretion. The 
document, which was exceedingly lengthy, took upwards 
of ten minutes in the reading, during which the most 
profound silence reigned in the church. Immediately 
after, the Emperor was invested with the state mantle ; 
and here followed the most interesting feature in the 
day's proceedings. Taking from the Metropolitan the 
crown — an immense one, blazing all over with diamonds 
— his Majesty, with his own hands, placed it on his head : 
thereby intimating that from no earthly power, priestly 
or lay, did he receive his sovereignty.* Then, making a 
sign to the Empress, who knelt submissively before him 
on a golden cushion, he just touched her forehead with 
it, and immediately replaced it on his own head. This 
was a moment of intense interest. The imperial children 
clustered round the august pair, and all rules of etiquette 
were forgotten in the affection of the paternal embrace. 
The Empress Mother, who had borne up with immense 
fortitude, burst into tears, as she, in turn, advanced to 
congratulate her son ; and the whole of the congregation, 

* See Appendix p. 166. 



86 EMOTION OF THE EMPRESS MOTHER. 

as they fell on their knees in honour of the rite, sobbed 
and cried in sympathy, like children. 

What a history did not that tear of the Empress 
Mother recall ! More than a quarter of a century before 
she had received a similar honour from the greatest 
sovereign of his time ; had for years after shared his 
thoughts, his joys, and his sorrows ; had been the gentle 
spirit that softened the iron firmness of his character ; 
and now she stood alone, — the great man had passed 
away, and to other hands was about to be confided the 
powerful sceptre which it had been so long her happiness 
to share in wielding. This was the culminating point of 
the ceremonial. Then came the recital of the Emperor's 
titles ; the anointing ; the administration of the Sacra- 
ment — to the Emperor in both forms, the Empress in 
one ; the Mass, and other ceremonials purely religious ; 
and, finally, the congratulations, which the Emperor 
received with great dignity and self-possession. At the 
same time his countenance wore a careworn and saddened 
look, and he seemed like one who felt oppressed with the 
sense of an awful responsibility. Now came the moment 
for which 70,000 people outside had been waiting with 
exemplary patience. A gorgeous procession issued from 
the church door. In front was a splendid canopy, under 
which walked the Emperor, with the imperial crown 
upon his head, and wearing the imperial mantle. A step 
or two behind, followed the Empress, wearing the small 
crown, which, in the church, had been attached to her 
head-dress by one of the ladies of honour. There were 
the standard, the seal, and the sword of the empire, the 
great functionaries at a respectful distance behind, and 
the dismounted gardes k cheval, in their golden cuirasses, 
lining the way. From a hundred bands pealed out at 
once the national anthem — "God save the Czar"— and 
the shouts of the people formed a tremendous accompani- 
ment to the music. The countenance of his Majesty was 
most solemn ; he bowed repeatedly, but never smiled, 
and the cheers seemed to die away for want of the 



THE ILLUMINATIONS. 



87 



imperial sympathy. It was a strikingly oriental spec- 
tacle : the pagoda-like canopy ; the great Czar, with his 
immense crown of diamonds blazing in the sun ; the 
many oriental costumes, and the bearded mujiks, all 
formed a picture which I shall not soon forget, but 
which I feel I have but weakly attempted to preserve for 
the English reader. 



LETTER XIII. 

THE ILLUMINATIONS. 



Moscow, {same date). 

For no portion of the coronation ceremonial had more 
elaborate preparations been made than for the general 
illumination, a description of festive demonstration for 
which Moscow has peculiar advantages, from its undu- 
lating site, and the quaint grotesque forms of many of 
its public buildings. Artists had been sent for from Paris 
and Berlin, and for months before the day of the coro- 
nation every spire, steeple, and " coign of vantage " had 
been covered with men, whose business it was to encrust 
them with a wooden framework, which, while carefully 
following all their caprices of form, should at the same 
time accommodate the myriads of lamps with which it 
was ultimately to be furnished. 

To understand the work the artists had to go through, 
and the difficulties they had to contend with, let us take 
one or two instances. At the top of " The Beautiful 
Place," and close to the gate of the Saviour, stands the 
church of St. Basil, with its twenty domes and cupolas, 
all of different shapes and sizes, but all of considerable 
altitude. I should say that, excepting the suburban villa 
of a certain provincial mayor which I had once the happi- 
ness to inspect, this church is the greatest architectural 



88 



THE CHURCH OF ST. BASIL. 



monstrosity in the world ; and not only does its form 
outrage the grotesque, but colour also brings in its 
powerful aid, and the various towers and cupolas — some 
like a plum-pudding, some a pepper-box, others affecting 
the coffee-pot configuration — are all painted and gilt like 
so many harlequins' jackets. Tradition attributes the 
erection of this church to Ivan the Terrible, who, when 
surfeited with the execution of his subjects, used to set 
about building churches in which he might pray for their 
souls. He employed an Italian architect, but furnished 
him with his own design, and between the two was 
St, Basil created, to puzzle, like the Martello towers at 
home, all posterity. So much, it is said, was the gracious 
Ivan pleased with the work, that when finished he, in the 
exuberance of his delight, ordered the eyes of the unfor- 
tunate Italian to be put out, lest he should pirate the 
imperial conceptions, and duplicate them in some other 
land. This act may perhaps have been a little stringent 
towards the individual, but the world has reason to be 
grateful if through its means it has been spared the further 
development of the Basilian school of ecclesiastical archi- 
tecture. To me, personally, St. Basil has been since my 
sojourn in Moscow a beacon of hope and a harbour of 
refuge, for being the only church that has a distinct 
individuality about it, it was the only one about which I 
could not be mistaken, and therefore every time I lost 
my way, which was pretty well every time I attempted 
an independent promenade, my last chance, after having 
exhausted my Sclavonic on unintelligent Isvodstchiks, 
was to make for St. Basil, from which I could always find 
my way home. 

For the purpose of the illumination this extraordinary 
church had to be covered with a frame — I might almost 
say a basket-work — of wood ; and hazardous indeed has 
been the operation. A few days before the coronation I 
stopped to watch the poor mujiks poised high up in the 
air, and fixing the lamps on the innumerable hooks of 
the framework. I saw one poor fellow slung up to the 



THE KREMLIN" WALLS. 



89 



top of a high tower by a dozen men. As he rose he swung 
to and fro in the wind ; bnt when he got near the top, 
the men below giving a sudden pull to bring him " home," 
the rope broke and down he came tumbling over and over 
like a ball, a distance of two hundred and fifty feet. There 
was a shriek, a dull heavy plump, and all was over ; the 
poor mujik never spoke or stirred, and his companions 
who had done the deed scampered away in every direction, 
just as in London when the spirited charioteer runs down 
a child, he thinks only of the police, and lashes his horse 
more furiously than before. But the work was at last 
completed, and St. Basil, and the tower of Ivan Veliki, 
and the whole turreted wall of the Kremlin, miles in 
extent, and the facade of the arsenal, and the other 
public buildings within the enceinte, were in due time 
covered with this wooden framework, that followed every 
eccentricity of outline, and was studded all over with 
little lamps filled with tallow and having a very thick 
wick in the middle of each. 

The wall of the Kremlin was literally festooned 
throughout its entire extent, every tree in the beautiful 
garden was covered with coloured lamps, and even the 
fountains had their framework of light, through which 
the water foamed and sparkled when the time came for 
bringing all their great preparations to fruition. It is 
easy to imagine how beautiful all this must have been 
when lighted up and seen through the slight mist of a 
hot summer's night — a mist not dense enough to obscure 
the lights, but still sufficiently opaque to hide the more 
solid material they covered. 

I, of course, took a carriage — all the world, including 
the hosts of Pharaoh and Sennacherib, seemed to have 
taken to chariots — and simply enough imagined that I 
had nothing to do but ride round and see the sights. But 
I forgot that during the previous week the railway had 
brought 100,000 strangers into Moscow, and that all the 
strangers would, like myself, be in carriages on the night 
of the illumination. I did not imagine there were so 



90 



COSSACKS AXD KOPECKS. 



many old rattletraps in the world. The police had 
ordered that none but carriages with two horses should 
have circulation, and consequently the most convulsive 
efforts had been made to get the teams up to the regu- 
lation standard. When my " cocher " turned into the 
Vertskoi I found myself in a moment almost overwhelmed 
in a stormy ocean of vehicles of all sizes, shapes, and 
colours ; so thick indeed were the carriages that there 
was no room for foot passengers, and therefore poor 
mujik had to get into corners, and, as well as he could, 
keep out of the way of Cossack lance or gendarme's 
sabre. How we got along I cannot very clearly describe. 
Sometimes we went forward a little, then we were driven 
back. At one moment a Cossack would start as from a 
reverie, put spurs to his little horse and gallop at us full 
charge, no matter what stood in his way. Then he would 
harangue the cocher, and the cocher would make a 
spirited reply ; then our friend from the Ukraine would 
seize the reins and treat us to a gyratory motion, recklessly 
smashing everything that came in his way with the long 
pole of our carriage. At last some person of suggestive 
mind would whisper " kopeck," and in a moment the 
descendant of Ghengis Khan would soften, let go the 
reins, and allow us to proceed at our normal pace of 
three yards per hour. 

Through this and a hundred si mil ar incidents we 
crawled along the principal streets, having ample time to 
admire the Palace of the Princess Kotchubey and the 
hotels of the English and French ambassadors. Count 
de Morny's was the only illumination in the Vertskoi 
having coloured lamps, and the contrast with the immense 
masses of white light made it both conspicuous and beau- 
tiful. When we got to the Kremlin we found that all 
the world had wended in the same direction. There was 
a dead lock at every gate, and the air shook again with 
a very Babel of excited tongues. We had nothing for it 
but to descend and walk, and after an unheard-of struggle 
we at last got to the great scene of attraction. I have 



THE TOWER OF IVAN VELIKI. THE GRAND OPERA. 91 

described the preparations, you must imagine the result. 
Imagine all these quaint outlines brilliantly lighted up, 
and appearing as if suspended in the misty sky ; imagine 
three miles of walls, draped in sparkling festoons ; imagine, 
or rather realise, some enchanted garden with its fountains 
of diamonds, its trees covered with pearls and rubies, and 
its cascades of liquid gold and silver. The architectural 
outline of every building seemed accurately traced out 
with a pencil of light, and not only the outline, but every 
ornament that could be found on the surface. The 
tower of Ivan Veliki, looked like a colossal Czar arrayed 
in a mantle of diamonds, and with a coronet of rubies 
encircling his head. The odd-looking St. Basil was, by 
the magic influence of tallow in a state of combustion, 
transformed into a fairy palace, and the more modern 
buildings of the Kremlin were as delicately traced out in 
light as they might have been in the architect's plan. 
Across the water we looked down upon an enchanted 
city, and the quiet waters of the Moskwa flamed like 
liquid fire from the reflection of the lights. The aborigines 
pronounced it to be the finest illumination they had ever 
had in Moscow, and the travellers vowed that it com- 
pletely eclipsed the great annual Roman illumination. 

Next to the Kremlin, the place in winch the great 
theatre is situated was most remarkable for the taste of 
the design and the beauty of the effects produced. This 
is an immense expanse, four times the extent of LineolnV 
inn-fields, and at one end stands the peerless theatre, 
with its grand Corinthian portico and its magnificent 
facade. On the other sides, at intervals, stand various 
buildings, all of which had for the present occasion been 
connected by a handsome screen of many arches, so that, 
when lighted up, the whole circuit of the square formed 
one complete and continuous design. Above all, and 
before all, stood the theatre itself, every flute in the 
pillars, every scroll or ornament in the capitals or entab- 
lature, being accurately traced out in living light. The 
illumination had made it an enchanted palace, and the 



.92 



THE SPECTACLE GALA. 



state of tlie atmosphere hung it, as it were, in the air, 
producing every moment from the thousands of spectators 
shouts of astonishment and delight. I myself, although 
not altogether unused to scenes of this description, 
enjoyed the luxury of a new sensation, and have not as 
yet recovered sufficiently from my wonder to give you 
more than the above loose, general impressions of the 
illuminations of Moscow. 



LETTER XIY. 

THE SPECTACLE GALA; — THE LEVEE. — LORD WODEHOUSE's RECEPTION 

BY THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS. MOSCOW CANARDS. 

♦ 

Moscow, Sept. 12. 
Last in the order of succession, but assuredly the first 
in importance and splendour amongst the festivities of 
the coronation week, we must place the grand spectacle 
gala, which took place last night (Thursday) at the Grand 
Opera. For this special occasion the theatre had been 
handed over entirely to the court, and no person could 
gain admission except by special invitation, or rather, 
speaking in court parlance, command of the Emperor. 
The accommodation of the house had been accurately 
gauged, every seat was numbered, and, finally, a corre- 
sponding number of tickets struck off for the great occa- 
sion. It was then that the troubles of masters of the 
ceremonies and grand chamberlains really commenced. 
The whole noblesse of Russia — rather a numerous body 
> — together with all the foreign embassies, at once applied 
for tickets, until at last it would have required the Coli- 
seum, with its eighty thousand seats, to satisfy all the 
applicants. Of course hundreds — nay, thousands, were 
disappointed, and even amongst the successful, abundant 
means of annoyance were found for the well-baited 
officials, in the mysteries of precedency, and the difficulty 



THE INTERIOR OF THE THEATRE. 



93 



of placing every one exactly in the place that suited his 
or her notion of their proper position in the scale of 
society. Princesses complained that they were placed 
below countesses, and countesses insisted that they were 
as good as princesses, until the masters of the ceremonies 
were driven almost to their wits' end. 

At last, however, the list was made out at least to the 
satisfaction of those who obtained tickets, and the pro- 
gramme of the spectacle gala was issued in due form ; 
and truly it was a scene to witness which was well 
worthy a strong effort. I have more than once men- 
tioned the vast size and exquisite proportions of this 
great theatre, its elegant accommodations, and gorgeous 
decorations. But last evening it looked more resplendent 
than ever. In addition to the central chandelier, each 
tier of boxes was illuminated with wax-lights, making 
the coup d'ceil almost too brilliant for prolonged contem- 
plation. When I entered the parterre at about half-past 
seven o'clock, I found it filled with officers in every 
variety of uniform, and all seemed lost in admiration of 
the splendid scene of which they themselves formed so 
important a feature. 

To appreciate the striking splendour of the ensemble, 
it must be remembered that the decorations are in the 
most ornate renaissance style, with Byzantine reminis- 
cences skilfully introduced by the artist, in compliment 
to the genius loci The ground of the box cornices is the 
most delicate light green in the world, and upon it are 
encrusted all the elaborate varieties of gilt ornament that 
are to be found in the most florid specimens of the school. 
The pillars of the imperial box are Byzantine, carved, 
gilt, and twisted ; and behind all hang the draperies of 
crimson velvet which divide the boxes from their several 
retiring rooms. All this, seen under a powerful light, 
was magnificent in the extreme ; but if we fill the par- 
terre with officers in every variety of uniform and deco- 
ration, and the boxes with ladies in superb toilettes and 
blazing with jewels, it will be easily seen how far short 



94 



RECEPTION OF THE EMPEROR. 



any written description must fall of the realities of the 
wondrous picture. 

The Emperor arrived at about half-past eight o'clock, 
accompanied by the Empress, the Empress-Mother, the 
Grand Duchess Constantine, and the Crown Prince of 
Russia, and immediately came to the front of the box to 
receive the congratulations of his affectionate subjects. 
His Majesty, who wore the uniform of a general of 
Cossacks, looked exceedingly well, as did also the Em- 
press, who wore the national head-dress in diamonds. 
The parwe of the Empress Mother was still more daz- 
zlingly brilliant, and seemed as if it would serve for the 
ransom of a kingdom. The moment a slight rustle in 
the imperial box announced the approach of the Em- 
peror, the whole house rose, the occupants of the parterre 
turning their faces to the box, and welcoming his Majesty 
with the most wonderful cheer I have ever heard. It 
must be remarked that the Russians are naturally the 
most musical people in the world, and instinctively har- 
monise every cry or acclamation ; but in addition to this, 
on the present occasion, there was thrown in the unifor- 
mity of milit ary discipline, nearly the whole of the male 
portion of the audience being officers, and the result was, 
that every cheer became a mass of musical sound of the 
most unusual and impressive character. I do not mean 
to intimate that it was the result of drill or previous 
organisation, but rather a spontaneous harmony arising 
from the instinct of the people and the entire unanimity 
of the loyal and affectionate feeling. The Emperor 
bowed repeatedly, and stood, as did the entire audience, 
while the band played the Russian National Hymn. The 
Empress Mother had a separate ovation, and her mode 
of recognition showed how grateful was the compliment 
to her feelings. At a signal from the Emperor we all 
resumed our seats, and then had time, before the rising 
of the curtain, to examine the brilliant company, and 
notice their distribution. 

As I have before mentioned, the parterre was almost 



THE DIPLOMATIC BODY. 



95 



filled with officers in brilliant uniforms. There were the 
garde- a-cheval in white and gold, the hussars in light blue 
and silver, the gorgeous varieties of the Asiatic costume, 
and the more sober contrast of the strangers' uniforms. 
There were several Spanish officers in scarlet, faced with 
black velvet, Austrian Hulans in tight-fitting crimson 
dresses and magnificent pelisses of velvet and fur, while 
there might also be noticed a tolerably fair sprinkling of 
British red and blue, and these, to my taste, suffered 
nothing whatever from the ordeal to which they were 
exposed. The British naval uniform, in particular, is 
hardly to be surpassed in its quiet richness, and that I 
am not singular in that opinion may be inferred from the 
fact that it has been taken as a model by all the naval 
nations of the world. The Bez-de-ch a ussee was completely 
monopolised by the ladies, and amongst the Russian 
belles were many faces that would create a sensation in 
St. James's. The Bel-Stage was given up almost wholly 
to the ambassadors, Lord Granville's box being on one 
side of the Emperor's, and the Count de Morny's on the 
other. Lord Granville was accompanied by the Countess 
(who has won golden opinions amongst all classes by the 
affability of her demeanour), the Marchioness of Stafford, 
and Lady Emily Peel. The two latter ladies are, I 
understand, exceedingly admired by the Russian officers 
— a proof, I must say, of decidedly good taste on the 
part of these gentlemen. There was Prince Esterhazy in 
his immortal diamond pelisse, and the Prince de Ligne, 
who looked as if he had hardly yet recovered the slight, 
real or imagined, which for the last two days has sup- 
plied the Moscow world with gossip. Count de Morny, 
it appears, got the order of St. Andrew, the highest of 
the Russian orders, while the prince was offered the 
White Eagle, which he indignantly refused. It is said 
that his wounded feelings have since received a salve in 
the shape of a malachite vase ; but whether the gift will 
induce him to wear the rejected order is a problem for 
the solution of which a trembling world must, I believe, 



96 TEE PERFORMANCE. BOSIO, CERITO, LAELACBE. 



■wait a little longer. There was the Princess Belasinski, 
the greatest heiress in Russia, and beautiful as a Peri, 
and ? " observed of all observers," the illustrious Totleben, 
in whose behalf strangers vied with Russians in the 
earnestness of their admiration. The defender of Sebas- 
topol is a fine- looking man of about forty years of age, 
tall and strong, and weather-beaten, as a soldier should 
be. He seemed to be on intimate terms with most of 
the English officers, and chatted freely with all who 
could express themselves fluently in French. I confess 
that to me this wonderful man was a greater object of 
interest and curiosity than all the splendour I have been 
attempting to describe. 

I had almost forgotten that there was an opera and a 
ballet, so much was the interest absorbed by what was 
passing on the audience side of the curtain. W~e had, 
however, the " Elisir D'Aniore," with Labia che, as 
glorious as ever, in Dr. Dulcamara, and with the graceful 
and melodious Bosio as the heroine, adding fresh laurels 
to her already great Russian success. Ever since the 
opening of the theatre she has been called nightly before 
the curtain, an honour with which she was on the present 
occasion obliged to dispense, as etiquette does not permit 
of any demonstration, either of applause or disapproba- 
tion, when the Emperor is present. It seemed rather 
odd, this continuous silence in so crowded and brilliant an 
audience, but I soon got used to it, and it saved all the 
misery of encores. Cerito made her debut in a military 
ballet, and seemed as young and as buoyant as ever ; 
and everything was over by eleven o'clock, when the 
imperial family departed as unostentatiously as they had 
come, their equipages being very quiet carriages, each 
escorted by a couple of Cossacks. The other festivities 
and ceremonials of the week may be disposed of in a few 
more lines. On Monday the diplomatic bodies felicitated 
the Emperor, and, as usual, the British equipages were 
the things most admired, the American uniforms the 
things most stared at. Brother Jonathan, determined to 



MOSCOW CANARDS. 



97 



please the Emperor of Russia at any price, has invented 
a court dress of his own, the most remarkable feature of 
which is a cocked hat with a tremendous yellow plume, 
which, like the white plume at Ivry, maybe distinguished 
afar off in every melee. At the levee three unfortunate-, 
individuals might be seen in this grotesque costume, and 
they were the object of general curiosity, if not of admi- 
ration. It was noticed that the English alone, thanks, I 
suppose, to the stern discipline of Sir E. Oust, were the 
only strangers who, on being presented, retired without 
turning their backs upon royalty. The Americans of 
course bolted, but better drill had been expected from 
the French, and from the representatives of the older 
courts. But no, everyone wheeled on the steps of the 
throne but the Islanders, who kept their faces to the 
Emperor until the intervention of a pillar enabled them 
to look before them without any violation of respect. 

Foolish canards are flying about here respecting the 
reception of the English at court, and their deportment, 
as compared with the other embassies, and above all one 
of immense plumage, describing Lord Wodehouse as 
having been so stung in a certain Isle of Serpents, as to 
have declined kissing the hand of the Empress at this 
very levee ; and as these canards may probably reach 
England indirectly, I may say there is not a single word 
of truth in them from beginning to end. The Emperor 
receives all the embassies with equal courtesy, and at the 
imperial balls the Empress walks a polonaise with each 
ambassador in turn, the Turkish inclusive. At the levee 
Lord "Wodehouse had the honour of kissing hands, and 
even of chatting with both Emperor and Empress, and, 
therefore, the lovers of peace need feel no alarm, nor 
draw any unfavourable inference from the incidents of 
court ceremonial here. On Tuesday there was a court 
ball in the magnificent rooms of the Kremlin Palace, at 
which about 5000 persons were present. It was, as you 
may conceive, a brilliant sight, the suite of apartments 
being amongst the most magnificent in Europe. 

H 



98 



EARL GKAXVILLE's HOSPITALITY. 



On this occasion the regalia was arranged on a table in 
the throne-roorn for the inspection of the guests, and not 
even a single servant was placed to watch these jewels of 
inestimable value. They were, of course, surrounded by 
the curious until the signal was given for the dance, when 
the Emperor led out Lady Granville for a polonaise. 
When I talk of a polonaise at court, by the way, you 
really must not imagine that I mean anything like the 
gidcly gyrations of the modem Terpsichore. The polo- 
naise is simply a promenade to music, in which the 
Emperor and Empress respectively make one turn of the 
room, with those whom they honour with their hand, 
when the latter bow, and retire to make room for their 
successors. On this occasion Lord Granville had also the 
honour of dancing with the Empress. On Wednesday 
the officers of the army offered their felicitations ; on 
Thursday came the spectacle gala, with which I com- 
menced my letter. 



LETTEE XV. 

MOSCOW CAXARDS. — LORD GRANYILLE'S HOSPITALITY. —THE 
SHAM FIGHT. 

Moscow, Sept. 15. 
Everyone who has read — and who has not 1 — " The 
Pirate" of the author of " Waverley," will remember 
how that prince of jolly fellows, Magnus Troil, determined 
to make merry at his daughter's wedding — how he killed 
the fatted calf, mustered the pipers and fiddlers, and 
summoned all his kindred and friends from far and near 
for a whole month's rejoicing. But they will also 
recollect that even the primitive Orcadians got tired on 
the third day, and that many began to yawn and languish 
for a return to the normal state of tranquillity from which 
they had been so pleasantly disturbed. 



EAEL GEAXVILLE's HOSPITALITY. 



09 



Just so is it with, our coronation festivities in Moscow. 
We began with a tremendous programme, which every 
one devoured in a paroxysm of voracious anticipation ; 
we thought we could see sights, and dance, and eat grand 
dinners to all eternity. But now, everything is changed ; 
the guests are hurrying away in troops, some are enjoying 
the luxury of acute dyspepsia, and even the Emperor 
himself has exhibited an unmistakeable symptom of 
weariness in the proclamation just issued, anticipating by 
rive days the original date of the " festin clu peuple." 
But, amidst all this pervading lassitude, the British 
ambassador keeps steadily on the even tenor of his 
hospitable way, and greatly dines, or merrily dances, or 
courteously receives, with that unflinching pluck and 
bottom which are the proud characteristics of his race 
and nation. 

I think I mentioned in a former letter the anticipations 
of the St. Petersburg English, that at Moscow Lord 
Granville would overtake his French competitor in the 
festive race, and in the long run maintain for the " Roast 
Beef of Old England" its traditional supremacy ; and 
they have not been disappointed. The Count de Morny 
has been distanced in the race, fairly dined and danced 
down, and to Lord and Lady Granville is now universally 
conceded the palm for dinners, for balls, for receptions, 
and, best of all, for unflagging graciousness and courtesy 
of demeanour. I do not say this in any ungenerous 
spirit of depreciation towards the French embassy, who 
have well and splendidly represented both the wealth and 
proverbial taste of their great country : but then the 
Hotel de Morny is Bachelor's Hall, while at the British 
embassy the wives and daughters of England offer a 
"material guarantee" to the wives and mothers of 
Bussia, and, consequently, the latter find themselves as 
much at home there as in their own domestic circles. 
This, I can assure you, is no exaggeration. The pro- 
vincial nobility of Bussia — the great boyards of the rich 
and fertile south — are primitive, almost patriarchal, in 

h 2 



ioo 



THE BALLS. 



their habits ; their homes are their empires, and the 
warmth of affection exhibited by the different members 
of a family for each other is quite touching and refreshing 
to the English strangers. The old princesses cluster their 
fair daughters about them " as the hen gathereth her 
chickens under her wing ; " and the latter, while educated 
to the highest pitch of modern refinement, speaking freely 
"the four languages," and being well acquainted with 
English literature — in which I am proud to say they take 
unaffected delight — dancing, singing, and playing with 
lady-like grace and skill, have all the freshness and 
modesty of deportment that foreigners so much admire 
in our island girls. It is not to be wondered at, then, 
that ladies such as I have attempted to describe find 
themselves emphatically " at home n with Lady Granville, 
and Lady Stafford, Lady Ailesbury, Lady Emily Peel, 
and Lady Margaret Leveson Gower — that they should 
grace the receptions, and go gladly and freely to the 
balls. 

The second danse, one of the precursors of the grand 
ball which the Emperor is expected to honour with his 
presence, took place on Friday evening last, and was 
crowded with the Russian nobility, princes and princes- 
ses, counts and countesses, officers of the guards and the 
militia, and a most satisfactory display of Russian youth, 
beauty, and fashion. The noble host and hostess seemed 
quite as fresh, as merry, and as courteous as if they had 
not been dancing, dining, and receiving for the last three 
weeks or a month. They chatted with the fathers and 
mothers, danced with the sons and daughters, and, in 
short, sedulously and successfully endeavoured to make 
all their guests as comfortable and happy as possible. I 
hope I am not infringing on the etiquette of hospitality 
by these general allusions to the festivities at the British 
embassy, but there are so many silly canards flying 
about here, and which are eagerly collected and punc- 
tually transmitted to Western Europe, respecting our 
social relations with the Russian court and noblesse, that 



MOSCOW CANARDS. 



101 



I feel bound and justified in saying what I know to be 
true respecting the real state of the case. Take one or 
two examples : It has been generally reported here that 
Lord Granville and Count de Moray, when coming out 
here, had been respectively entrusted with minatory 
notes to the Russian government, respecting some politi- 
cal differences arising out of the treaty of peace, but that 
while Lord Granville had, John Bull-like, at once thrust 
his note into the hand of the Emperor, Count de Morny 
had, with better tact, reserved his, and, as a consequence, 
had completely monopolised the attentions of the Russian 
court. To give a Defoe-like vraisemblance to the story, 
it was circumstantially added that when Lord Granville 
called on Prince Gortchakoff, the latter was "too ill to 
be seen/' and in ten minutes after was receiving the 
French ambassador. Xow, I have not the privileges 
enjoyed by some newspaper correspondents of attending 
cabinet councils, or accompanying ambassadors extra- 
ordinary when they present diplomatic notes, but with 
respect to the first part of the above story, I think that 
it carries its refutation in its intrinsic and manifest 
absurdity. To go to the coronation of the Emperor of 
Russia with a letter of congratulation in one hand, and an 
uncivil political note in the other, would be something like 
attending a man's wedding and taking the favourable 
opportunity at the same time of serving him with a writ. 
Neither can I speak from personal knowledge of the 
politico-sanatory condition of the hero of Sebastopol on 
the occasion referred to, but this I do know, that he was 
at Lord Granville's on Friday night as jolly as possible, 
that he chatted with his host and hostess in the most 
friendly manner, and had a tremendous confabulation 
with Mr. Julian Fane, whom he held by the hand for ten 
minutes in a corner of the ball-room, while he poured 
into his ear some tremendously interesting story, the 
" authentic" details of which would make the fortune of 
an imaginative journalist. 

From the ball-room, gemmed with wax lights and 



102 



THE SHA3I FIGHT. 



resonant with the- music of " lutes and soft recorders/*' to 
the camp and parade ground seems an abrupt transition, 
but thither your special correspondent must go, no 
matter how it rains ; and — oh, ye pluvial deities ! — how 
it did rain in Moscow yesterday morning, when the 
enthusiastic remnant of the British invasion were wending 
their way in such carriages as they could obtain, to the 
great Hadinka plain, where the Emperor was to review 
his guards and test their efficiency by the evolutions of 
la petite guerre. Our friends north of the Tweed talk 
exultingly of what their skies can do in wetting an 
Englishman to the skin, but if they had been present at 
the Moscow review yesterday, they would forswear um- 
brellas in very shame, and admit that a 6 ' Scotch mist n 
is Egyptian aridity as compared with a real right-down 
Russian rainy day. Down came the steady, pitiless, 
persevering deluge, as fine as if it had been rubbed 
against a nutmeg-grater en route, but as dense as the 
sands of the sea. Even the Cossack horses in the 
carriages shook their shaggy coats, and the Isvodstchiks 
looked a little damp, despite the well-known absorbing 
powers of their well-worn caftans. And there are the 
fine uniforms of the officers and soldiers, so soaked, and 
draggled, and tarnished, and the noble war horses 
neighing on every side in one wild chorus of dis- 
satisfaction ! 

It would not be complimentary to compare such fine 
martial-looking fellows as the Russian officers, and who 
are so invariably polite to strangers, to drowned rats, but 
so thoroughly soaked a set of heroes compassionate eyes 
never looked upon. I must admit that they bore it all 
like Spartans, and both officers and men chatted, talked, 
and smoked while they waited for the Emperor, as if it 
were a pleasant clay in May. The spectators were few in 
number, although it was a grand field day with the 
Emperor on the ground, and consisted almost exclusively 
of Englishmen and mujiks of a military turn of mind. 
The parade-ground, in a corner of which the camp for 



THE SHA3I FIGHT. 



103 



120,000 men is situated, is a plain of about the size of a 
German principality, having one end impinging on the 
gardens of Petroffsky Palace, and the other bounded by 
a wood, behind which is a gentle eminence, the site of a 
new station for the railway. About this point the sham 
battle was fought, one-half the army defending, while the 
other attempted to take the position. The Emperor, 
attended by what on a fine day would have been a most 
brilliant staff, and such members of the various embassies 
as did not mind being wet to the skin, rode up and 
down at intervals between the hostile armies, and criti- 
cally watched the performance of each successive evolu- 
tion. It is to be hoped that his Imperial Majesty 
understood them better than certain of the spectators, 
for (only this once) I must waive the omniscience of 
journalism, and confess that my particular comprehension 
of the order of battle tended slightly in the direction of 
the obscure. The Cossacks obliged us to dismount at a 
distance of about two miles from the field, which was 
soft as pap, and adhesive as glue : the rain came down 
in torrents, and so dense was the atmosphere that we 
could not see the hostile amiies, although the frequent 
reports and hollow rumbling of the artillery announced 
that they were close at hand. 

After a sore pngrimage, we at last came to a rising 
ground, the rain suddenly ceased, and a sight burst on 
our view that repaid us for all our previous annoyances. 
There stood, in battle array, the whole of the famous 
Imperial Guard, dotted over the plain in huge human 
parallelograms or glistening squadrons, the bayonets of 
the infantry in lorig regular rows sparkling like a diamond 
necklace, and the varied uniforms of the cavalry glowing 
like [the costumes of some great state pageant. There 
were the guards a cheval in white, with gold burnished 
cuirasses, and all mounted on splendid chesnut horses. 
Then there were the Hussars, scarlet and gold, or blue 
and silver, the regiment of Paul, with their quaint old- 
fashioned conical caps, the grenadiers, the Cossacks of 



104 



TEE SOKGS OF THE VICTORS. 



the Don, the fa vomit e " Finlandske " regiment, and 
finally, the artillery in immense force, each gnn drawn 
by horses of unusual size and power. Soon all these 
masses began to move, each with the regularity of some 
vast machine, the artillery opened fire, the musketry 
roiled and rattled, the officers galloped to and fro, and I 
fear swore a little, and the battle was soon at its height. 
The position, to judge from the loudness of the report 
and the prevalence of the smoke, was most resolutely 
defended, but with what vicissitudes of fortune I am 
unable to tell, for the tremendous firing brought down 
the rain again, and the great object with the spectators 
was to get into shelter as soon as possible. We accord- 
ingly, in the simplicity of our hearts, rushed to the 
wood ; but very soon found, to our surprise, that we 
were in the very centre of the battle. The holders of 
the eminence had valorously repelled their assailants, 
and were now driving them pell-mell before them into 
the plain, Our harbour of refuge became the scene of a 
desperate hand-to-hand contest, in which the soldiers 
charged or resisted, rushed about, and fired totally 
regardless of the nerves of travellers or the convenience 
of special correspondents. Pop, pop ! Bang, bang ! 
Gun- wadding flying about in showers, and an odour of 
c 1 that villanous saltpetre " of the most smothering in- 
tensity ! To our immense satisfaction, the hill forces, 
after a sanguinary struggle, at length cleared the wood, 
the assailants were driven into the plain and thoroughly 
defeated, and trumpet signals informed us that the sham 
battle was over, and that the poor soldiers might go home 
to dinner and dry clothes. So ended the great battle of 
Hadinka, the men cheering lustily for the Emperor, and 
the conquering army celebrating their victory according 
to Russian custom with songs of triumph, full of wild, 
warlike melody and national character. 



THE MERCHANTS DINNER. 



105 



LETTER XVI. 

the merchants' dinner to the officers and soldiers. — lady 
Granville's ball. — the scotch piper. 

Moscow, Sept. 19. 
We are gradually approaching the end of our volu- 
minous programme, and I can assure you that to those 
whose duty it has been to "assist" at every pageant or 
festivity, the prospect is the reverse of disagreeable. 
The Russians, who have been entertained in classes 
and sections, are of course as fresh as ever ; but the 
strangers, great and small, who have been hurried day 
and night from review to ball, from religious ceremonial 
to imperial banquet, look forward with unmitigated satis- 
faction to the time when the famous festivities of the 
Great Czar's coronation shall have become a "pleasure 
of memory/' and nothing will remain to be done save to 
get home as rapidly as possible, and recount, with all 
due traveller's amplifications, the wonders in which we 
have been spectators or participators. It will be found, 
on looking back through the coronation festivities, that the 
feasting has been pretty generally divided between the 
church, the army, and the noblesse — the two latter terms 
being pretty well convertible, seeing that every noble capable 
of bearing arms is an officer, and every officer is a noble 
by virtue of his epaulettes. In the universal homage 
paid to the church by the highest and greatest in the land, 
may be found the recognition of the vast physical force 
of the mujik population, whose representatives the clergy 
are, the upper classes, as in almost every continental 
country, being rather lukewarm in the matter of religious 
observances. 

In the army is concentrated the whole machinery of 
secular government, and therefore it is hardly to be 



10G 



THE RIDING-SCHOOL. 



wondered at that on important occasions, these two great 
sections of the state should come in for the lion's share 
of the pageants, the dinners, the balls, and the cere- 
monials. As for the commercial classes, so prominent 
and powerful in England, they are still kept somewhat 
in the background, although dining the short reign of 
the present Emperor them social position has already 
been considerably improved. At the coronation they 
had a place in the procession, and this week they had 
the honour of entertaining his imperial Majesty in per- 
son, together with all the officers of the guards who are 
now quartered in Moscow or its neighbourhood. The 
banquet, one of the most splendid and costly of the 
coronation series, took place in the great riding-school, a 
building which is itself one of the most remarkable 
sights in this most remarkable city. Its erection has 
been a necessity at once of the Russian climate and 
the Russian system ; the one rendering out-door exercise 
impossible for a large portion of the year, the other 
making indispensable the existence of a locality in which 
military evolutions may be carried on without interrup- 
tion. Of upwards of twice the arena of Westminster 
Hall, the great riding-school can accommodate within its 
vast enclosure two complete regiments of mounted 
dragoons, who are thus enabled in the coldest day in 
winter to parade and go through their evolutions under 
cover and surrounded by an Italian climate. The late 
Emperor has often reviewed his favourite chevalier 
guards in the Moscow riding-school, at a time when half 
an hour's exposure in the open air would have been 
certain death to man and horse. One of the greatest 
curiosities of this extraordinary building is its flat roof, 
built entirely of wood, and having no support but the 
external walls between which it stretches, a vast expanse, 
exciting the spectators 5 wonder as to the mechanical 
means by which it can be sustained without a single 
supporting column. I believe the method adopted has 
been to build it in section^ as we build the mainmasts of 



THE COMPANY. 



107 



our three deckers, and then to lay it on the walls as if 
it were a lid. 

For the banquet of the merchants to the Emperor and 
the army, the room was expensively and tastefully 
decorated. At the upper end was a dais, covered with 
crimson cloth and decorated with the imperial insignia, 
and ingeniously contrived military trophies, and upon it 
was placed a table laden with gold and silver plate, and 
decorated with magnificent vases in malachite and jasper. 
This was for the Emperor, the Grand Dukes, the generals 
who had also the honour to be aides-de-camp to his 
imperial Majesty, and such of the ambassadors as 
belonged to the noble profession of arms. Singularly 
enough, the consequence of this regulation was that the 
only ambassador who had the honour of dining at the 
imperial table was Aali Pacha, who, being a general in 
the Turkish army, was qualified to participate in this 
exclusively military feast. The other ambassadors were 
present as spectators, but the Turk alone was permitted 
to put his feet under the imperial mahogany. The rest 
of the guests dined at forty-eight long tables running 
parallel along the room, and offering sitting accommoda- 
tion for nearly four thousand guests. Everything good 
or rare in the way of eatables and drinkables was present 
in the utmost profusion, and it only wanted Mr. Bathe 
gliding silently amongst the guest, and the stentorian 
Higgs or Harker, imploring " silence for the chair," to 
make one fancy that the scene was the London Tavern 
swelled to gigantic proportions, the occasion some grand 
civic entertainment, and that Bishopsgate-street, not the 
Kremlin Gardens, was the locus in quo of a great 
prandial solemnity. " One touch of dinner makes the 
whole world kin ; " Russian field-marshals enjoy good 
things quite as well as London aldermen, and pale 
Circassians from the Caucasus are as critical judges of a 
glass of claret as the worshipful warden of the Fish- 
mongers' Company. 

In one particular, however, the banquet of the riding- 



ios 



THE MERCHANTS SNUBBED. 



school was decidedly in advance of English public 
dinners. There were no long speeches to bore the com- 
pany, or distract the ' 6 gentlemen of the press." No 
perspiring orator, " unaccustomed to public speaking," 
and " taken entirely by surprise," poured for half an 
hour his sickening platitudes into disgusted ears, under a 
discordant fire of hostile forks and spoons. Neither was 
there a long, bothering or nonsensical list of toasts, but 
at intervals the Emperor rose and proposed " The 
Merchants of Moscow," or the Golova gave "The 
Emperor and imperial family ; " then his Majesty 
took wine with the guests, the walls rang with one 
strong, tremendous, monosyllabic cheer from four thou- 
sand manly voices in response, and in a moment every 
one was again seated and absorbed in the discussion of 
the liquid luxuries of the feast. At such a moment, the 
coup cVceil was the most striking that could possibly be 
imagined. I have before alluded to the great variety 
and splendour of the Russian military uniforms. There 
is hardly a colour that has not been called into requisi- 
tion to classify the various corps of the vast Russian 
army, nor has the wildest dream that ever entered the 
brain of military tailor remained unrealised. Scarlet 
and green, crimson and blue, and even pink and violet, 
might be reckoned amongst the brilliant uniforms that 
surrounded the long tables in the riding-school, and 
when the wearers rose simultaneously to honour their 
Sovereign's toast, the glitter of gold and silver, and the 
gay variety of colour, at once charmed, dazzled, and 
almost confounded the spectator. The galleries were 
filled with the female noblesse in grand toilette, there 
was the finest military music, and I may honestly say, 
in the recognised formula, that the company retired 
cc highly delighted with the evening's entertainment." 

One drawback there was, however, which must be 
mentioned. The givers of the feast, it is said, who had 
spent 200,000 rubles in its preparation, were not per- 
mitted to be partakers, but were consoled by the gracious 



lady Granville's ball. 



109 



deportment of the Emperor, who on retiring from the 
table condescendingly thanked them for their hospitality, 
and complimented them on the taste and profusion of 
the dinner. There was simultaneously another dinner 
for the soldiers, in the Kremlin Gardens, and it is satis- 
factory to be able to record that, unlike a recent similar 
entertainment in London, there w T as enough and to spare 
for all the guests. Each soldier had soup, two kinds of 
meat, pastry, with bread at discretion, and for the lubri- 
catory process a bottle of sherry and a bottle of beer. 
The despatch with which this liberal allowance of 
solids and fluids was demolished by the sun-burnt heroes 
of Sebastopol was one of the most amusing features in 
the whole day's festivities. 

The evening was devoted to a different but not less 
brilliant gala. For the fifth time since we arrived in 
Moscow, Lady Granville threw open her splendid saloons 
to the Russian noblesse, and it would be hard to find a 
more distinguished company than assembled at the ball of 
last evening. There were the Grand Duke Constantine 
and his beautiful wife, the Grand Duke Nicholas, the 
Grand Duchess Marie, and several other members of the 
imperial family. There were Princesses and Countesses 
without number, and amongst the men might be recog- 
nised the most distinguished names in the military or 
diplomatic circles of Russia. Lady Granville danced 
with the Grand Duke, but his lordship was too busy all 
night making his guests comfortable to join in the Terpsi- 
chorean pastime. McAllister, Lord Stafford's piper, was 
in attendance in the ante-room, in full uniform, kilt, 
and philibeg, it being the intention of the noble host that 
in some interval of the dance the Russian guests should 
be made acquainted with the peculiar characteristics of 
Highland music. But the bardic soul of McAllister was 
impatient of restraint. For some moments he remained 
standing in the ante-room, beating time to an imaginary 
reel, and champing like a war horse impatient of the bit, 
until at last, what with the strains of rival music from 



110 



THE SCOTCH PIPEK. 



the band, the intoxicating influence of a thousand wax 
lights reflected from the porcelain walls, and the bright 
forms of beauty that flitted to and fro before the gaze 
of the bewildered Highlander, flesh and blood could hold 
out no longer : the inspired Gael shouldered his pipes, 
and, striking up a pibroch that would awaken the dead, 
marched, with measured tread, as if at the head of his 
clan, into the centre of the brilliant ring round which 
Grand Dukes and Duchesses were at that moment dancing 
the polonaise. Loud above the puny attempts of catgut 
and brass rose the wild martial note of the bagpipes. 
The musicians threw down their instruments in despair, 
the company ceased dancing, and McAllister was in a 
moment the centre of an admiring circle, completely 
absorbed in his pibroch, and beating time with as much 
accuracy and sang froid as if unconscious of the presence 
of the foremost of the world's elite. I watched the effect 
of this strange music on the unaccustomed ears of the 
Russians with great interest. They were at first evidently 
astounded, the officers putting their hands to their ears, 
and the ladies crossing their hands and gazing on the 
kilted iEolus in mute surprise. But soon it became evident 
that there was a sympathy between the warlike race on 
the one side and the warlike music on the other. Both 
ladies and gentlemen chatted, smiled, and listened ; and 
when, shortly after, the Grand Duchess Constantine, one 
of the most beautiful women in Russia, retired to another 
apartment, she sent for McAllister, who played "The 
White Cockade " in a manner that elicited her imperial 
highness's gracious commendation. From that moment 
he became the fashion, and several times in the course of 
the evening he played again to admiring audiences. 

I may mention before parting with our musical friend, 
that since his arrival he has been quite a lion amongst 
the Russians, who follow him in crowds through the 
streets. There is much speculation amongst the mujiks 
as to his real character and functions, but the most pre- 
vailing impression is that he is the chief of all the foreign 



THE C£ FESTDST DU PBUPLE. 



Ill 



ambassadors, and that with a fastidious refinement of 
hauteur, he prefers walking, on the ground that none of 
the carnages are grand enough for his notions of personal 
dignity. At about one o'clock the ball was at its climax, 
there being more than six hundred persons present, and 
at half-past one the Grand Duke led Lady Granville, and 
Lord Granville the Grand Duchess, to the imperial supper 
room, where an entertainment, combining English abun- 
dance with continental elegance, was prepared for their 
imperial highnesses. Both here, and at the buffets for 
the general company, everything was served on massive 
plate : the wines and viands were of the highest 
character ; and the Russian noblesse, no bad judges in 
such matters, gave the best possible proof of their approval 
in the gusto with which they partook of the good things 
provided. In fine, the ball was universally pronounced 
to be a complete and brilliant success. 



LETTER XYIL 

THE U FESTIX DTT PBUPLE." 



Moscow, Sept. 20. 
If the modern Russians be the descendants of the 
ancient Scythians, there is one thing in which they do 
not resemble their frugal ancestors, and that is the costly 
character of their hospitality. Whoever has had patience 
to follow the narrative of the coronation of the Emperor 
must have remarked that everything has finished with a 
feast. The Emperor feasts everybody, the noblesse feast 
the Emperor, the ambassadorial sojourn is one continuous 
dinner party, the merchants feast the soldiers, and lastly 
the government, in compliance with ancient Sclavonic 
custom, feasts the people. One cannot be always dining, 
but to write for ever about dining is still worse ; and, 



112 



THIRTY YEARS AGO. 



therefore, I have left several items in the coronation bill 
of fare unnoticed ; but a select party of two hundred 
thousand people is a thing not to be seen every day ; 
and to those at a distance who could not have been pre- 
sent in the body, a few details of the great " Eestin du 
Peuple " may not prove uninteresting, the more so as it 
is one of the rare occasions on which the " black people," 
as they are emphatically called here, are allowed to ap- 
proach their sovereign in convivial intercourse, to eat of 
his salt, and to demonstrate their loyalty under the 
influences which are proverbially said to give loyalty its 
greatest impetus. 

It is hardly necessary to say that the " Festin du 
Peuple " is an important item in every coronation pro- 
gramme since the time when Boris Gudenoff found it 
necessary to appeal to panem et circenses as a means of 
reconciling the people to his usurpation. It has often 
been a scene of riot and excess, sometimes of disorder 
and confusion, and even so lately as the coronation of 
the Emperor Nicholas, circumstances arose which still 
leave unpleasant reminiscences in the minds of those who 
are old enough to have "assisted "on that important 
occasion. It is just thirty years since a banquet similar 
to that which was celebrated to-day was spread in the 
Krasnaja Ploschad, the tables laden with the good things 
of this world, and the square enclosed with galleries, 
from which the great boyards enjoyed the prospect of 
their serfs enjoying an abundant banquet at least once 
during the term of their natural lives, The young Em- 
peror, handsome as Apollo, and surrounded with all the 
adjuncts of imperial splendour, presided on a throne 
erected for the occasion, and a signal from him was to 
have inaugurated a protracted banquet, to be gone 
through with all due formality, dignity, and decorum. 

But the quarter million of mujiks who had waited 
round the barriers from an early hour in the morning, 
some of them the whole of the night before, took a dif- 
ferent view of the case, and, the moment the signal was 



THE "BLACK PEOPLE." 



113 



given, rushed upon the feast like so many cannibals, not 
to eat, but to carry away ; and, in the twinkling of an 
eye, everything eatable and drinkable had disappeared 
from the tables. Those who had not been strong or 
active enough to get portions of the good cheer, tore 
off the tablecloths, and broke up the tables, using the 
fractured legs as weapons to make the earlier plunderers 
disgorge some share of their hard- won booty. It is even 
said that the galleries for the spectators were torn down, 
and that Cashmere shawls and diamond necklaces went 
the way of the legs of mutton and roast chickens, to the 
great alarm and chagrin of the aristocratic audience in 
the "Beautiful Place." To prevent the recurrence of 
such disorders, great pains and precautions had been 
taken on the present occasion, while the elements lent 
their aid in cooling mujik ardour and preserving the 
public tranquillity. It has been said that the most 
threatening emeute may often be nipped in the bud by 
the well-directed hose of a fire-engine, but if all the fire- 
engines in Europe, and America to boot, had been 
brought into requisition, they could not have given 
the crowd so thorough a soaking as did the pitiless rain, 
which from " morn to dewy eve " had been saturating 
sheepskins, soaking through caftans, and drenching mili- 
tary uniforms all through, in the great plain of the 
Kadinka, which, for the reasons above stated, had been 
chosen as the site of the present coronation banquet. 

Having secured a carriage, no easy task at such a time, 
when every man who has a kopeck to spare must ride to 
dinner, I drove out to the plain at an early hour, and all 
along the route found my passage obstructed by the pre- 
monitory symptoms of the great festival. The " black 
people " covered the trottoir like a plague of locusts, ten 
times as numerous as the merry pilgrims to Greenwich 
fair, but looking as serious as judges, and evidently 
making abstruse mental calculations as to how much of 
the anticipated provender would fall to their several shares. 
At the first glance, every mujik would appear to be cast 

i 



114 



THE MT7J1KS, GREEN AND BLUE. 



in the same mould, and clad in the same monotonous 
costume ; but as the shepherd is said, by dint of con- 
tinuous observation, to be able to distinguish the faces of 
all his sheep, so the curious voyageur, by frequently 
passing through the streets, and watching the people as 
he passes, obtains a sort of classification, and is able to 
detect grades and differences in what appeared at first one 
dreary, dead level of hopeless equality. They were all 
out to-day, gentle and simple. There was the rough 
mujik of the plains in his sheepskin coat, shapeless, inde- 
scribable hat, and bearded like a patriarch. Little cares 
he about social or political problems. He works when 
he can't help it, keeps himself as warm as he can, washes 
as seldom as he can, and when inclined for jollity, sings 
a song the burthen of which is, ■ ' Oh, don't ask me to 
read or write." Sturdily he trudged along with thoughts 
intent on quass and vodka, and heeded nothing the 
teeming rain that was searching out every crevice in his 
woolly covering. Close behind him followed the fair 
partner of his joys and sorrows, looking for all the world 
like a bundle of faded calico, mounted on elephantine 
legs, and furnished with a capacious basket to contain the 
anticipated spoils of the ' ' Festin. " Then there was the 
mujik of the town, tall and slim, in well- worn caftan, 
and pushing a-head with that shuffling gait which long 
practice on the most abominable pavement in the world 
has made second nature. There is a restless activity in 
his eye, a studied servility in his manner, that bespeaks 
the man who runs errands, sleeps in doorways in summer, 
and on stoves, like a Salamander in winter, cringes like a 
spaniel when you look at him, and asks for " Tsckai" the 
moment your features relax into the faintest approxima- 
tion to a smile. Lastly, we had the mujik well to do, 
clad in Lincoln green, and with hat of unexceptionable 
beaver, who keeps his own drotschki, and drives a pros- 
perous trade in the Yertskoi. He is worth his 200,000 
roubles perhaps, affects diamonds, and has his daughter 
learniug the piano, and the four languages. But the 



THE VEHICLES. 



115 



sword of Damocles hangs over his head by a single hair, 
as the rough country boyard, to whom he owes fealty, 
may at any time cancel his "pass," and recal him to the 
roughest labour of rural life — or perhaps send him off 
for a soldier. 

Men of this class are pointed out to me every day, 
who have over and over again offered thousands of roubles 
for their freedom, but their masters are inexorable, as 
one of the greatest luxuries of a Russian nobleman is to 
be able to point to a man and say, 6 ' You see that fellow, 
lie is my serf, and is worth a million silver roubles. 93 On 
they went in a never-ending stream, the poor ploughing 
steadily through fluid mud, the well-to-do, dashing, 
splashing on their neat drotschkies behind horses that 
would raise a shout of admiration in Hyde Park. 

The whole of the roadway was covered with equipages 
for miles, every successive one of which offered some new 
variety of vehicular monstrosity. There was the Telega 
of the road, like a little wooden dish set on a cumbrous 
gun-carriage, and accommodating two or three human 
bundles that turned their backs to the rain, and took 
their soaking with the most stoical equanimity. There 
was the more pretentious Tarantas, the substitute for our 
western post carriage, shaped like a child's cradle, and 
capable of accommodating a whole litter of eager sight- 
seekers. I looked upon these bone-breakers with a 
shudder, as I thought of some English friends who had 
just started on a journey across the steppe in a vehicle of 
this description. Then came the aristocratic Berlin, or 
caleche, drawn by four horses, sometimes abreast, some- 
times in a team with traces ten or twelve yards in length. 
Through the windows of these might be seen the powdered 
head and gold embroidery of veteran diplomacy, the 
bright eyes of fair ladies, and the rosy cheeks of chubby 
children all agog for the Kadinka plain. One would 
have thought that all the odd-looking vehicles and all the 
fine horses in the world had been collected for the accom- 
modation of this leviathan dinner-party. 

i 2 



116 



THE STRAXGERS. 



It will be easily conceived that in such a crowd our 
progress was anything but rapid. Sometimes we got on 
a little, sometimes we "poled" our leader, sometimes got 
poled ourselves from behind, and then such a mingled 
torrent of Russian abuse and English vociferation ! Some- 
times the gendarmes ordered us to stop, sometimes per- 
mitted us to go on, while ever and anon the horrid little 
Cossack, like so many mounted Skye terriers, hovered and 
jabbered, and galloped over people, and shook their fists 
at " Isvodtchiks," and seemed as if the rain had boiled 
them up to a furious internal fermentation. We could 
not tell what it was all about ; but fancied we had done 
something that might possibly doom us to Siberia or the 
knout. Everything, however, has an end, except rain in 
Russia ; and so at last, we made our way to the covered 
gallery which had been constructed for the diplomatic 
body and their friends. A large space had been railed 
off, in the centre of which was a handsome pavilion for 
the accommodation of the Emperor and his family, and 
round it, on three sides, were galleries similar to that in 
which we found ourselves located. For the first half- 
hour we had ample amusement in watching each succes- 
sive arrival in our own gallery. There were the Americans, 
in their blue uniforms and yellow plumes ; the Austrians 
in their magnificent hussar pelisses, the fur on which was 
worth thousands of roubles ; the Russians, in every 
colour under the sun ; and the diplomats, in blue and 
gold, and a painful monotony of tight boots. We had 
also our Persian and Turkish friends, who, it is said, are 
never failing in their attendance wherever there is eating 
and drinking going on ; and Circassians, in whose yellow 
skins and awfully hooked noses I cannot see any type of 
beauty, whatever ethnologists may say to the contrary. 

In strong contrast to all these parti-coloured masque- 
raders, I observed a pale, dark man in clerical robes of 
black, relieved in front by the thin stripe of violet, and 
wearing the tremendous shovel hat that marks the " mon- 
seigneur " of the "Vatican. It was the secretary to the 



THE TABLES. 



117 



Pope's Nuncio, who, after some negotiation, and many 
scruples to be overcome, has been duly received at the 
Russian court, notwithstanding all the remonstrances of 
Patriarch or Archimandrite. From our elevated position 
we could now see the arrangements for the feast, and 
they were abundant and worthy of the occasion. Several 
miles of tables surrounded the enclosure on every side, 
and on them were placed sheep roasted whole, standing 
bolt upright, and with their horns gilded ready for the 
sacrifice. With them were alternated great mountains 
of bread, and here and there dwarf pine-trees, from which 
hung in tempting festoons the savoury sausages so dear 
to Sarmatian palates. Pails of beer decorated every 
corner in which there was room for them to stand, and 
round this tempting feast the tantalised mujiks clustered, 
impatient for the signal to begin. At the angles of each 
square, formed by the arrangement of the tables, stood 
fountains from which wine and vodka were to flow — 
liquids which the rain from above was rapidly diluting to 
a most harmless amount of stimulus. For the amusement 
of the young people there were the Montagues Pusses, 
the turnabouts, and the circus — and, wonderful instance 
of the pursuit of pleasure under difficulties, every one of 
these machines had constant employment. Then there 
was the circus, under the royal pavilion, and the balloon, 
and the bands, that played with a perseverance worthy of 
fine weather. 

Long before the arrival of the Emperor, the Grand 
Duke Constantine was on the ground, and the people, 
who, up to that moment had been kept at arm's length, 
clustered round his imperial highness, and coaxed him 
out of permission iC just to look at the tables." They 
got in, and the consequence may be easily imagined. In 
the twinkling of an eye roast sheep, junks of beef, 
mountains of bread, sausage trees, and pails of beer, had 
all disappeared, and the mujiks were standing on the 
tables, with their mouths and pockets filled to bursting, 
and the empty beer-pails on their heads for umbrellas. 



118 



ARRIVAL OF THE EMPEROR. 



From the table-cloths the ladies had improvised flowing 
mantillas, and the audience was in comfortable condition 
to cheer the Emperor and enjoy the amusements pro- 
vided. As all this occurred at a considerable distance 
from where I stood, T cannot say how the sheep were 
dissected or the beef sliced, but this I know, tha,t no 
knives or forks were allowed for fear of accident, and, 
therefore, the obvious conclusion is that the division was 
effected in a very primitive manner. We amused our- 
selves for some minutes speculating on the probabilities, 
wondered how one man had obtained the leg of mutton 
that peeped out of his breeches pocket, how another had 
performed the decapitation that enabled him to clap a 
sheep's head, with gilded horns, on the top of his old 
hat, and at last began to look back at the Petroffski 
Palace, and the long Haie of Lesghian guards and 
Circassians, that waited the passage of the Emperor to 
his pavilion. 

At last, about two o'clock, the imperial cortege emerged 
from the chateau, the bands struck up the national hymn, 
the people cheered lustily, and the Emperor, followed by 
a brilliant but rather damp staff, rode rapidly into the 
enclosure. Without meaning any disrespect to the 
Emperor, or the crowd of generals by whom he was 
followed, the best idea I can give you of the effect is by 
comparing it to some well-got-up cavalcade in the circus, 
with prancing horses, and riders in every variety of 
showy costume. His Majesty rode rapidly round the 
enclosure, followed by his staff, and then dashing through 
an opening rode down amongst the people, who fell back 
like retiring waves on each side, and shook the dense 
atmosphere with their joyful recognition of this gracious 
proof of their sovereign's confidence in their loyalty and 
affection. We could see the white plumes winding 
sinuously through the crowd, as cheer upon cheer was 
taken up and prolonged through each section of this vast 
multitude. The rain, which came down in a pitiless 
stream, was completely forgotten, and the people had a 



GETTING HOME. 



119 



gleam of delight, the memory of which will sustain them 
until the next "Festin." Having made his rounds, the 
Emperor returned to the Pavilion, and the sports of the 
circus began with an act of equitation by a female martyr 
in white muslin, who was drenched to the skin long 
before she had leaped through her paper balloon. Then 
the acrobats drooped over the tops of their poles like so 
many drowned rats, and the "Veteran Green" of the 
Moscow aeronautics struggled hard to make the gas 
inside his vast machine produce the proper amount of 
distension in spite of the collapsing influence of the water 
outside. At last a tolerable amount of rotundity was 
produced, the balloon lazily ascended, to be in a moment 
lost in the mist ; and a signal from the imperial pavilion 
pronounced the sports of the " Festin du Peuple " to 
have terminated. 

Then came the smashing of carriages, the kicking over 
of traces, the loud neighing of the wild horses, and the 
frantic calls for " Ivan," and " Basil," and " Constantin," 
and "Alexis." Fancy the Haymarket at the close of a 
Jenny Lind night, and the linkboys suddenly endowed 
with the Slavonic dialect, and the rain coming down in 
torrents, and the ladies waiting muffled up in the 
vestibule, and the gentlemen craning out to see if the 
carriages are coming, and throw in a handful of Budish- 
nicks, and Cossacks, and gendarmes, and you will be able 
to join with me in imagination in realising the picture 
afforded by the grand wind-up of the peopled dinner 
party in the Kadinka. 



120 



letter xvnr. 

THE PEOPLE'S BALL AT THE KREMLIN. 



Moscow, Monday, Sept. 22. • 
The splendid saloons of the Kremlin Palace presented, 
on Sunday evening, one of those strange scenes which can 
only be witnessed in a country where a pure despotism 
prevails, and where, consequently, all minor distinctions 
of class disappear in the presence of an all-powerful king 
and his idolatrously submissive people. I have before 
endeavoured to give the readers of the Daily News some 
faint idea of the splendours of the Imperial Kremlin, 
with its vestibules of porphyry and jasper — its lofty 
gilded and elaborately-decorated saloons, and its omni- 
present decorations, in which the elegance of the Renais- 
sance, and the curious conceits of the Byzantine styles 
are so strangely, yet so artistically mingled. But the 
dominating sentiment of everything in Russia is Byzan- 
tine, and from the Byzantine basis the artist must start, 
no matter what may be the work in hand, — whether a 
church, a palace, or a public institution. In the Kremlin 
Palace the fusion has been a complete success. In the 
exterior, the vast Italian facade is pierced with Byzantine 
windows, and the apparent harmony with which the two 
styles mingle goes far to prove the common eastern origin 
of both. In the interior, the twisted columns of gold 
blend magnificently with the Renaissance details, and 
gilding and colour, gay arabesque, and burnished cornice, 
meet the eye in every direction. 

At eight o'clock yesterday evening, these sumptuous 
halls presented a strange but most characteristic spectacle. 
In the costliest palace of his imperial home the Czar held 
high festival with the " black people," and twenty-five 
thousand mujiks, male and female, assembled to take one 



THE PEOPLE'S BALL. THE PEOPLE COMING TX. 121 

passing glance at the splendour, in the creation of which 
they are the humblest but most effective instruments. 
Unlike the " festin 93 of the previous day, no pitiless pelt- 
ing rain was present to soak their rusty caftans, or mar 
their rare moment of enjoyment. 

It was a strange but most suggestive sight, to stand at 
the top of the grand escalier, and, by the illumination of 
a thousand wax lights, to watch the dark, dingy -looking 
column as — impeded only by its own numbers — it slowly 
ascended and streamed unobstructed through the gilded 
saloons. There were huge bearded men in the genuine 
sheepskin of the steppes ; others were in the rusty mono- 
tonous costume of the town, their great boots splashed 
with the mud through which they had waded to the ball, 
and the universal niujik hat, which looks like a brand upon 
their heads ; and as they shuffled along over the parque- 
terie floors they displayed as much coolness and non- 
chalance as if they were American Indians, or high-bred 
English gentlemen. This nil admirari deportment of the 
.Russian peasant is a t hin g that strikes the mquhing 
stranger as much as anything else he sees in this country 
of wonders and contradiction. Basil, or Ivan, or Yer- 
moloff, as the case may be, is certainly either the dullest 
fellow in the world, or else has acquired the art of con- 
cealing his emotions in wonderful perfection. He goes to 
review or ball, or any other grand sight most pertina- 
ciously, and as if it were a sort of moral or loyal duty ; 
but except in such cases as the " festin," where there 
are whole sheep to be torn limb from limb, roast chickens 
to be pocketed, or pails of beer to be swilled, he 
" assists 33 at the most magnificent entertainment with a 
stoical apathy that shows his organ of wonder to be very 
slightly developed, or, at all events, to be under the most 
efficient control. 

In the gilded halls of the Kremlin, yesterday evening, 
he neither turned to the right or left, nor looked upwards 
or downwards, as he marched slowly from the Salle 
Blanche to the Hall of St. Andrew, penetrated the imperial 



122 



THE PEOPLE ENJOY THEMSELVES. 



bed-chamber of Catherine, or plunged into the gloomy 
vaulted rooms of the Terema. And his faithful wife 
faithfully imitated her liege lord's well-simulated compo- 
sure. With a handkerchief tied over her head, and her 
nondescript dress swelling out in bundles like the sails of 
a ship or the badly compressed stomach of a deputy- 
lieutenant, she marched along with the calm dignity of a 
judge, and took all the magnificence that surrounded her 
as calmly as if "to the manner born." Only at the 
buffets that plentifully studded the recesses of each 
saloon was any redundancy of mujik vitality exhibited, 
either by male or female. There, indeed, you might see 
the " black people" "lashing themselves like a surge" 
against the tables^ and bewildering the imperial servants 
in their vociferous demands for refreshments. Vassili 
supped " Tschai " with a spoon of silver gilt, out of 
Dresden cups worth five guineas a-piece, and Katrine 
munched by the dozen peaches every one of which had 
cost a rouble. Champagne was the favourite beverage, 
but even humble beer was not disdained, and the tables 
would soon have been as bare as the tables of the 
"Festin," but for the assiduous care with which they 
were constantly replenished by the imperial lacqueys. 
Here and there, like stars in a stormy sky, the diamonds 
of the fair noblesse or the rich uniforms of officers might 
be seen to glisten ; but they were few and far between ; 
and, as a general rule, the crowd was as decidedly mujik 
in its character as if it had been gathered in the Krasnaja 
Ploschad, or the Kadinka plain. The occasion was a 
masquerade, and there were no masks beyond what a 
religious abstinence of soap had provided. It was a ball, 
and there was no dancing, although three military bands, 
placed in the principal saloons, played waltzes and polkas 
splendidly all night. Neither could it be called a 
promenade, for twenty-five thousand guests had barely 
room to elbow and hustle each other, which they did 
with a vigour that would have done honour to the Surrey 
gallery. 



THE EMPEROR ENTERS. 



123 



The Emperor entered the room, at nine o'clock, in a 
manner that at once showed his Imperial Majesty's good 
taste and his confidence in the loyal affection of his 
people. On grand occasions, when none but haute 
noblesse and'" distinguished strangers" are admitted, the 
Czar is preceded by fifty chamberlains to clear the way, 
their velvet coats heavy with gold embroidery, and the 
dignity of their motions sorely impeded by the tightness 
of their shoes. But, on this occasion, his Majesty, with 
the Empress leaning on one arm, and the Empress- 
mother on the other, plunged good-humouredly into the 
crowd, and nodded and smiled good-naturedly in recogni- 
tion of the almost oriental reverences of his subjects. 
There could be no mistaking the warm affection that 
lighted up the rough countenances of the mujiks as they 
crowded round their sovereign, nor was it possible to 
avoid the conclusion that, if the Russian government be 
a despotism, it is at least, in as far as the Emperor and 
the great mass of the people are concerned, a despotism 
of the heart quite as much as of the strong arm. The 
Emperor proceeded slowly through the room, with diffi- 
culty making his way through the dense mass that 
surrounded him ; and some said that he walked a 
mazourka, taking the hands successively of the great 
ladies as he passed along. I cannot, however, vouch for 
the fact, as the crowd was too great, and the people were 
too tall for any one not in front to get a satisfactory 
glimpse at the imperial movements. 

At ten there was a supper, of which a select portion of 
the company partook ; and shortly afterwards the im- 
perial party retired from the ball-room. The Grand 
Duke Constantine, who is a great favourite with the 
people, stopped later ; but by twelve o'clock all the 
aristocratic company had cleared off, while the mujiks 
kept pouring in to a much later hour. I believe they 
were much better pleased than with the "festin" of the 
previous day, as they were protected from the pitiless 
pelting of the storm, and, if report speaks truly, had 



124 



LORD GKAXVILLE S STATE BALL. 



a inuck better quality of provisions. It is said that at 
the " festin 93 much of the meat was tainted, and that a 
peasant took the liberty of hinting as much to his 
Majesty, in answer to a condescending inquiry. If this 
be true, the contractors, or the weather — anything but 
the Emperor — was to blame, as it is well known that his 
Majesty's orders were of the most liberal character. 
However, " all's well that ends well;" and it is satis- 
factory to be able to say, in conclusion, that the whole 
passed off without a single accident or the slightest con- 
fusion or irregularity. 



LETTER XIX. 

LORD GRAXYILLKS STATE BALL. 

Moscow, Sept. 25. 
Although you must be pretty well tired of festivities 
by this time, still I suppose you will be glad to leam 
some particulars of Lord Granville's state ball, which 
may justly be pronounced one of the crowning fetes of 
the whole ceremonial. It is already known that through 
the previous exertions of Sir John Acton, his lordship's 
nephew and secretary, the British embassy was the best 
lodged of all the distinguished strangers, in the magni- 
ficent palace of Prince Graziani, an Italian nobleman, 
who, I believe, consulted more his taste than his finances 
in fitting it with costly furniture, and articles of vertu. 
The magnificent suite of rooms had been newly deco- 
rated for the present occasion, and a new dancing-room 
extemporised, in the shape of a pavilion of regal dimen- 
sions, erected by our old friend Ben Edgington, of 
London Bridge. The rooms, although small in com- 
parison with the vast saloons of the Kremlin Palace, are 
still of handsome proportions, and when decorated in 
warm glowing colours, and well-lighted — nothing like 



LOUD GRANVILLE'S BALL. EMPEROR S DEPORTMENT. 125 

plenty of light — have a truly splendid appearance. It is 
hardly necessary to say that last evening they put on 
their best aspect, when set out in grand parade, and 
rilled with everything that was noble, distinguished, or 
well-dressed in Russia. The imperial party was, of 
course, received at the principal entrance by the noble 
host, and conducted to the throne, or rather seat, which 
had been prepared for his Imperial Majesty's reception. 
Every man was in uniform, and every woman in plumes 
and diamonds ; the finest music filled every salle, and the 
walls exhibited a perfect galaxy of wax-lights. You may 3 
therefore, imagine what must have been the effect of the 
picture, when, at a signal from the Imperial guest, the 
ball commenced. The Czar danced often and well, 
honouring in succession Lady Granville, Ladj^ Emily 
Peel, and Lady Stafford, by selecting them for his 
partners. The supper was laid in the porcelain-room, 
the scene of your friend M'Allister's exploits ; but for 
the Emperor himself a magnificent repast was spread in 
one of the saloons that fill up the long front of the 
building. To this room none but the most select of the 
guests found admission. In order that his Imperial 
Majesty might not be incommoded, the invitations were 
under eight hundred ; but so great was the anxiety of the 
Russian noblesse to 6 1 assist " at Lady Granville's ball, 
that it is thought his lordship will be obliged to have an 
encore, at which, I believe, his Imperial Majesty will also 
be present. Nothing could exceed the gracious friend- 
liness and condescension of the Emperor's deportment. 
He chatted freely and frequently with his distinguished 
host, and danced very often ; in short, threw himself 
with complete abandon into the spirit of the evening's 
entertainment. Several times in the course of the evening 
his Majesty quietly took a chair and sat down among 
the people, and no one thought it necessary to stand up, 
or move out of the way. The Grand Dukes, who are 
very simple and unaffected, danced away as if they 
enjoyed it. Lord Granville having expressed a hope 



126 



THE RUSSIANS CHASSE. 



that such, had been the case with the Grand Duke 
Constantine, his Imperial Highness replied, " Look at my 
face, and you will see whether I have or not. 



LETTER XX. 

THE RUSSIAN CHASSE, 



Moscow, Sept. 26. 
Amid the din and confusion of balls and reviews and 
receptions, I had almost forgotten to inform you that on 
Tuesday last there was a chasse for the Court and Corps 
Diplomatique at Staritzin, twelve versts from Moscow, on 
the Warsaw road. The meet was near an old ruined 
palace which was built by the Empress Catherine, and 
was formerly surrounded by a deer-park ; but the place 
has been much neglected of late years, and is now in 
rather a dilapidated state. The Emperor was to be on 
horseback at ten, and before that hour the sportsmen 
arrived in great numbers. Lord Granville's barouche, in 
which he drove four English horses himself, was a great 
contrast to the other carriages, which were most of them 
drawn by post-horses, harnessed in the Russian fashion, 
four abreast, and driven by a inujik in a sheepskin coat. 
At all the villages on the road the peasants had turned 
out to stare at the unusual concourse ; and at one of 
them the elders of the village had brought out bread and 
salt on a small table to offer the Emperor as he passed. 
Those of the diplomatic corps who had no horses of then 
own were mounted from the imperial stable, and on arriv- 
ing at Tsaritzin they found their hunters ready saddled. 
The steeds had rather more of a military than a sporting 
appearance, and looked as if they were more accustomed 
to the parade-ground than the hunting-field ; but they 
were mostly strong, well-shaped animals. The English 



THE RUSSIAN CHASSE. 



127 



embassy mustered very strong, and were most of them 
mounted on their own horses, brought from England. 
There were only five ladies out, four of whom were 
English — Ladies E. Peel, Stafford, Margaret L. Gower, 
and Ailesbury ; the fifth was a Princess Bariatinsky, a 
very pretty woman. The Emperor arrived about half- 
past ten, in a plain caleche with four horses. His two 
sons were with him, and the Grand Dukes Nicholas and 
Michael followed. They were all in military costume, 
the Emperor in a hussar uniform. His Majesty got on 
his horse, a small grey Arab, and rode off immediately to 
cover, followed by the field, about 200 in number. 
After riding a mile and a half through some very muddy 
lanes, we came to the scene of action, where the sport 
commenced by some coui'sing. Hares, however, were 
not very plentiful in the open, and they proceeded to 
draw the covers with a pack of harriers. The hounds 
were a set of queer-looking little dogs, which would 
hardly have passed muster in Leicestershire ; but to make 
up for their deficiencies, they were accompanied by ten 
splendid piqueurs, dressed in gorgeous red liveries and 
mounted on little Cossack horses. These individuals 
were provided with long horns, on which they constantly 
played ; and when the dogs were running they rode 
wildly among them, cracking their whips and shouting. 
The covers were small plantations of brushwood, and the 
mode of proceeding was as follows : — The ten piqueurs 
took the hounds into the cover, other piqueurs being sta- 
tioned outside with greyhounds, which they let slip upon 
any unfortunate animal that looked out of the cover. 
In this way a great many hares and plump little foxes, 
who looked as if their early lives had been spent in some 
comfortable hutch, and did not seem at all used to the 
amusement, were disposed of. Two wolves were reserved 
for the finale, and were held down by dogs to have their 
throats cut. The most curious part of the proceeding 
was the strong infusion of the military element, which 
the Russians seem to be unable ever to divest themselves 



128 



THE FIREWORKS. 



of. The ground was kept by Cossacks, as if for a review. 
The Emperor and all the officers were in military uniform, 
and the huntsmen looked more like hussars than anything 
else. 

After the chasse, luncheon was provided at a kind of 
shooting-box close to the meet of the morning, In one 
of the rooms there were four small round tables, at one 
of which the Emperor sat, with Lady Emily Peel on one 
side and Lady Ailesbury on the other, Lord Granville, 
Lady Stafford, and Lady Margaret Leveson Gower being 
at the same table. The other tables were occupied 
by the Grand Dukes, the English embassy, and other 
visitors. Lord Granville was the only special ambassador 
present. After the luncheon, the Emperor, in the most 
gracious manner, said " Good-bye w to his guests, and 
got into his carriage. The whole affair was over by three 
o'clock. 



LETTER XXL 

CONCLUSION OF THE MOSCOW FETES. THE FIREWORKS. 



Moscow, Sept. 30. 
Finis coronat opus, the feu d? artifice has finished the 
Moscow festivities, and the holy city, with its extraordi- 
nary buildings, its innumerable churches, and its varie- 
gated population, returns to its normal state of tran- 
quillity. After the " festin " the fireworks formed the 
great feature of the people's share of the fun, and conse- 
quently much expectation had been raised, and consi- 
derable gossip had circulated respecting them for many 
days previous to their coming off. As the popular organ 
of wonder always delights in statistics, the number and 
cost of the various items had been circumstantially stated, 
and there was not a mujik who was not ready to swear 
that there would be at least one bouquet of forty thousand 



THE FIREWORKS. 



129 



rockets, every one of which was worth two roubles. But 
the judicious shook their heads as they looked up at the 
continuously lowering sky, and expanded their umbrellas 
to the pitiless, persevering, through and through soaking 
rain. Each party has now had its triumph, the mujiks 
have assisted at the fireworks without saturated sheep- 
skins, and the weather-prophets been justified by a 
density of atmosphere that dimmed the brilliancy of the 
most vivacious tourbillon, and enveloped the imperial 
balcony as with a pall during nearly the whole of the 
evening. The site was also admirably chosen, both for 
sight-seeing and for immunity from accidents. The 
college of the Junker cadets is a beautiful building, form- 
ing the residence of a wealthy merchant, and is situated 
far away from Kremlin and Yerskoi, over in Sheppok, 
beloved of steam-boiler factories and cotton "fabriks." 
The ground is almost amphitheatric in form, so that in 
spite of obstructive Cossacks, and surly gensdarmes, in 
cloaks of enormous amplitude, everything that stood upon 
two legs had a full view of everything that was able to 
emerge from the smoke, which was enough to make the 
Londoner, reminiscent of his dear native November fogs, 
decidedly nostalgic. As usual, everything was military 
in its character, — the Emperor in full uniform, the court 
in ditto, the diplomats emulating the imperial footmen in 
the redundancy of their gold lace, and the French, 
Spaniards, and Austrians in all the perplexing variety of 
the mihtary harlequinade. Eight opposite to the impe- 
rial balcony, the Narva Arch was filled by a huge 
transparency, telling all those who were up in Karamsin 
how one Ivan Soussarin had saved the life of the Emperor 
Nicholas, and the modus operandi. You will see by the 
printed programme, which I send, and which will be a 
curiosity for English amateurs in pyrotechnics, how grand 
and varied the exhibition was intended to be ; but, 
unfortunately, the first two or three flights filled the 
whole vicinity of the imperial balconies with a smoke as 
black as we are accustomed to see floating over the 

K 



130 THE FIREWORKS THE GTJN CONCERT. 

Thames, and the remainder could only be discerned in 
fitful flashes, picturesque, certainly, but decidedly unin- 
telligible. We had music also ; amongst the rest, an 
arrangement (which would have done honour to Jullien) 
of the " National Hymn," the drum parts to be played 
by cannon, to be timeously let off for the purpose. I 
had previously attended a rehearsal of this grand effect, 
and must confess had not formed any very sanguine 
expectations of its success. The plan was to have electric 
wires communicating with all the touch-holes of the 
guns, the other ends being appended to the keys of a 
piano, at which the maestro was to preside, and deal out 
with due precision this novel and astounding accompani- 
ment. But galvanic batteries will have their little whims 
and caprices as well as ourselves, and consequently, 
sometimes the guns hung fire, and sometimes went off 
too soon, so that although making a sufficient amount of 
crash, they were quite as successful in creating confusion. 
As with the rehearsal so with the performance. The 
thousand chanters and two thousand musicians were 
frequently thrown out in the most solemn passages in 
the " National Hymn" by a cannonade, which, had it 
come in at the proper time, would have produced literally 
an electric effect. However, every one had come to be 
pleased and astonished, and Russia is not a country 
where people are apt to find fault when it is the Imperial 
pleasure that universal good-humour should prevail. 
Everything went off well, and the vast crowds retired in 
the most orderly manner, as is the custom in Hussia. 
A few mujiks trampled to death, more or less, would not 
justify me in qualifying this assertion, as the fact is never 
considered worth mentioning, even in the "local papers." 



131 



LETTER XXIL 

(not before published.) 

moscow. the english residents. — the english church. 

english governesses. — english manufactures. — the trastir- 
russian policy towards the english. 

Moscow, Oct. 3. 
Although not exactly within the four corners of my 
commission, it would perhaps be thought strange if I left 
Moscow without collecting some few facts connected with 
the subjects which form the title of this letter. It is 
perhaps not generally known that next to Archangel, 
where a factory was granted to Chancellor and his brave 
comrades, Moscow contains the oldest English factory, as 
it is called, and the oldest English church, in Russia. 
There are at present many Englishmen, and men of pure 
English descent, residing in Moscow, and within a circuit 
of 100 versts ; and, whatever continental journals may say 
to the contrary, they are as happy and on as good terms 
with their Eussian neighbours as it is possible for men to 
be. One of the greatest paper-makers in Russia is Mr. 

H , a stout Kentish-man, who has resided upwards of 

twenty years in the country, and who has realised a large 
fortune, he keeps a couple of carriages, and looks as 
hearty as if he had never left " the garden of England." 
His wife is a Russian lady ; and, judging from the air of 
happiness and comfort that pervades their whole domestic 
circle, I should not conclude that the political differences 
had any very serious effect in disturbing their connubial 
harmony. I should observe, that the manufacture of 
paper is very much encouraged and protected by the 
Russian government, and that much of it will bear com- 
parison with our best specimens ; but still the best is 

made by Mr. H and other English manufacturers, 

k 2 



132 



THE ENGLISH RESIDENTS. 



and wherever the native manufacturers approach them, it 
is with the aid of English machines, most of which are 
made by your neighbours, Bryan, Donkin, and Co., Ber- 
mondsey. The Russians, who have the faculty of imita- 
tion in a very high degree of perfection, have made fac- 
similes of these machines, and brought them into use ; 
but they soon get out of order, and the English article 
has long since resumed its place in Russian estimation. 

Another instance of entente cordiale between the two 
peoples is the great factory over in Sheppok, for the con- 
struction of all sorts of mill machinery. The head of 
this firm is the son of one of the wealthiest merchants in 
Russia, an intelligent and accomplished young man, who 
speaks English with great fluency ; but the acting partner, 
the head and hands of the undertaking, is a stalwart 
I^orth Briton, of whom, as I am too far away to see his 
blushes, I shall say that he is one of the best fellows I 
ever met, either at home or abroad. There are many 
other Englishmen residing in and about Moscow similarly 
situated, and to the honour of both parties be it said, 
that when, at the commencement of the war, they waited 
on the authorities and proposed to leave Russia rather 
than be called on to exercise their several arts in the 
production of articles likely to be used against their 
native country, they were informed that they were the 
Emperor's guests, that they were under his protection, 
and that he esteemed them all the more highly for their 
patriotism. But this is not a singular instance, for both 
in Petersburg and Moscow I have heard numerous anec- 
dotes illustrative of the almost fastidious delicacy of the 
late Emperor in his deportment towards the English 
residents during the war. At its very commencement a 
proclamation was issued, assuring them of his protection, 
and calling on his own subjects to maintain their ancient 
reputation for hospitality, and never to forget the sacred 
character of a guest ; and, although I made many in- 
quiries, I could not find a single instance in which the 
Imperial exhortation has been disregarded. The best 



THE ENGLISH CHURCH, 



133 



possible judges, the English residents themselves, are 
unanimous in their statement that what was indifference 
and toleration before the war, became the most studied 
attention during its progress. 

Let me be understood, as in the matter referring chiefly 
to the intentions and acts of the Emperor himself, and 
those high functionaries who were immediately under his 
eye and influence : for one or two cases have reached my 
ears which show that many of the subordinates would, if 
they dared, have pursued a different conduct, Amongst 
others, I was told that, after one of the great Russian 
defeats, an intimation was sent to Mr. Grey, the chaplain 
of the English factory in Moscow, that he must no longer 
pray that " Queen Victoria may be victorious over all 
her enemies ; " to which he firmly replied, that he would 
rather be silent altogether than thus to mutilate his 
national service. Further, he transmitted a statement of 
the whole case to the Emperor, and the telegraph soon 
brought back an order permitting him to pray for his 
sovereign, or for any one else he thought fit. 

Not the least interesting of the sights of Moscow is 
the little church of which Mr. Grey is the pious, earnest, 
and indefatigable minister. It was rather a long drive 
every Sunday from the Grande Lubianka, in which the 
" Dom " of my friend Chollet is situated, to the Tcher- 
nichoff Pereoulk, the half street half green lane in the 
centre of which the British chapel raises its impretending 
head. No gothic arches, no classic portico, indicates the 
character of the temple ; but a long brick cottage of one 
story above the basement forms the church on one side 
of its street door, and the modest residence of the chap- 
lain on the other. It will hardly be believed that Mr. 
Grey's accommodation does not exceed three or four 
rooms, while his salary is only a couple of hundred 
pounds a year, to be eked out by the very uncertain and 
slender profits of the school, to maintain which is one of 
the conditions of his appointment. Now, when it is 
considered that the British chaplain is the first man upon 



134 



ENGLISH GOVERNESSES. 



whom every Englishman calls on his arrival in Moscow, 
and the man by whom, if he be of snitable rank, he 
expects to be asked to dinner ; that he is also the man to 
whom every poor countryman or woman flies in their 
distress for food or protection, or the means of getting 
home ; and further, that he is the natural head of British 
society in Moscow, I am sure that in England, the chosen 
home of rich benefices, this miserable pittance of one of 
the advanced guards or outposts of the Church need only 
to be known to receive speedy augmentation. Another 
thing that should not be forgotten is, that there is a very 
large number of young English ladies continually arriving 
in Russia to seek employment as governesses in Russian 
families of distinction. I had the pleasure of meeting 
many of them at a friend's house, where one of their 
number has found a good husband and a happy home, 
and was very much gratified to hear from their own lips 
that the mode in which they are treated by the Russian 
noblesse with whom they reside leaves nothing to be 
desired. Their salaries are liberal, and their appointments 
everything that befits ladies of birth and education ; but, 
more than all this, they value the kind unostentatious 
footing of equality on which they stand with their patrons 
and pupils : an honoured guest at all their balls and 
parties, and included as a matter of course in all the 
invitations they receive from their friends, One lady 
showed me a whole box of valuable presents she had 
received from her pupils, or their mamas, every one of 
which was inscribed with some little kindly sentiment ; 
but they were unanimous in declaring that their treat- 
ment in tha Russian families is everything that could be 
expected by an Englishwoman, a gentlewoman, and a 
woman of education. I could not help thinking of the 
position of our poor governesses at home as I listened to 
these authentic details of the homage paid to cultivated 
intellect by a people whom we so often flippantly set 
down as semi-barbarians. 

But, then, to return to our muttons : in the natural 



THE ENGLISH CHURCH. 



135 



course of affairs these ladies will sometimes be out of 
employment, or will have to wait some time after their 
arrival in Russia before they can obtain suitable appoint- 
ments. To all the poor girls so situated Mr. Grey is, in 
virtue of his sacred office, the natural father and pro- 
tector ; and well and faithfully does he discharge the 
duty. Let, then, all those who properly estimate the 
value of such a protector to a young English girl at a 
distance of two thousand miles from home, put their 
heads together and hit upon some plan by which the 
parson's ever-open hand may be better furnished with the 
means of helping his exiled countrymen and women. 

The following interesting particulars respecting the 
English, and their church in Moscow, were obligingly 
furnished to me by Mr. Grey himself. I will only add, 
what his modesty forbids him to insert, namely, that the 
duties of minister at the British chapel in Moscow, were 
never more efficiently performed than during his own 
incumbency. 

In 1553, Archangel was discovered by the English. In 
1554, a treaty was concluded with the then Tzar, John IVth, 
which allowed them to build churches in any part of his 
dominions. The English, at that time, traded from Arch- 
angel during the summer months, and during the winter 
resided at Moscow, where their families remained always. 
The English factory, containing the church, was first 
established in a part of the old town of Moscow, called 
the Kicholski, and the house, which was taken from the 
English on the death of Charles I., still retains the 
English coat of arms emblazoned over its principal gate. 
On the restoration of Charles II. , the English were re- 
stored to favour and another church was built. Under 
Michael IV., in 1629, a church was built in the German 
quarter. And the English continued to hare a separate 
church until 1714, when Peter the Great ordered the 
removal of the English factory to St. Petersburg. At 
that time, in consequence of their diminished number, 
the English residents found it convenient to join with 



136 



THE ENGLISH CHUECH. 



the Dutch congregation, and the congregations continued 
joined until 1812, when Dr. Beresford was their chap- 
lain. In 1812, the church was burned, but Dr. Beres- 
ford being tutor to the late Emperor Nicholas he easily 
obtained a grant of 40,000 roubles, paper, for the rebuild- 
ing of the church. 

Through an error in making out this grant, through a 
subsequent error of the then churchwardens in lodging 
the money in the Foundling Hospital Bank, and 
through a false calculation of the expenses of building, 
this money was all lost. A dispute next arose between the 
Dutch Reformed and English congregations, which ended 
in their separation, and with loss of their building, which 
was partly finished ; and, in fine, the English congrega- 
tion ceased to attend any religious service of their own, 
except the occasional assistance of a passing clergyman 
might be secured. This lamentable state of things existed 
for thirteen years, during which time many efforts were 
made to raise money sufficient to secure the services of 
a regular clergyman. In 1825, through the joint exer- 
tions of Mr. Boulton and Mr. Law, a grant was made 
by the Russian Company, another by the factory at St. 
Petersburg. A large subscription was raised both in 
Moscow and St. Petersburg, and at last the present 
building was bought and arranged, and a chaplain ap- 
pointed on the same footing as at present. From this 
short summary it appears that the church at Moscow was 
the first English church in Russia, and that it continued 
uninterruptedly open from 1554 to the present time, ex- 
cept during the protectorate of Cromwell, and when, 
through the burning of Moscow, and the loss of the 
building and money, the efforts of the congregation were 
partly paralysed, yet this chapel is the only one which 
does not receive a regular support from the shipping 
dues. The building is much too small for its present 
purpose, as there are two schools attached to it in which 
there have been as many as seventy children. 

It would not be right to close this historical review, 



THE TK ASTIR. 



137 



without referring to the late, but most important addi- 
tion of a school for the English, by Mr. Grenside. 
Former chaplains, though they may have seen the want 
as clearly as he did, had not the moral courage to meet 
the wants of the community in this respect. Mr. Gren- 
side, though labouring under very delicate health for 
some years, persevered steadily in this laudable work, 
until the school grew under his fostering care to a state 
of considerable efficiency. Its present numbers are 
seventy. It is self-supporting, and affords the means of 
educating many orphans, at an almost nominal expense, 
whilst others of the poor English children are given in- 
struction wholly without payment. There are at present 
eight poor orphans on the books. 

From the English church to the Russian " Traktir " 
may seem rather an odd transition, but a special corres- 
pondent writes against time, and must be permitted 
some licence in the choice of his subjects. Pious people 
will like to hear about the church, but jovial people will 
also like to hear something about the places of entertain- 
ment. The Russian tavern is called a " Traktir," of 
which there are few genuine specimens out of Moscow, 
the St. Petersburg houses having long since followed the 
French model. The Traktir which I visited, and which is 
one of the best in Moscow, is situated opposite the 
Kremlin garden, and was to me a real harbour of refuge 
on the day of the public entry. I had heard a good deal 
of the dirt and barbarism of these places, and knew that 
some English visitors had condemned them in no un- 
measured terms. I was therefore anxious to judge for 
myself, and whether it was through the excellent appe- 
tite which my previous exertions had created, or that I 
am naturally the reverse of fastidious, I found the fare 
excellent, and in the attendance and arrangements nothing 
to be complained of. The first thing that struck me on 
entering the room was that the Russians are rather 
partial to smoking, as every one had either a pipe or 
cigar, and those who had not were waiting on the little 



138 THE TRAKTIR, " WODEN " THE WAITER. 

boy whose pleasant duty it was to get up the steam by 
lighting at the brazier and taking the first puff himself. 
As soon as my eye got a little accustomed to the smoky 
atmosphere, I could see that the room was crowded with 
officers, citizens, Tartars, and Circassians, and that every 
one in addition to the pipe had a plate of savoury odour, 
and a bottle of wine or beer before him. The place was 
not particularly clean, certainly — no place can be where 
smoking is permitted— but it was as certainly not par- 
ticularly dirty, and the officers scattered about everywhere 
in brilliant uniforms appeared to be very well satisfied. 
The head waiter was a gigantic Russ, with long fair well- 
brushed hair descending in curls on his shoulders, and 
a magnificent beard that might have fitted the Farnese 
Hercules. He wore a shirt or tunic of crimson satin, 
open at the throat, and over it another of fine linen, and 
the remainder of his costume was in keeping ; Russian 
boots of the finest kid, over which his black velvet 
trousers bulged, and festooned at the knee, completed a 
dress, which, to my eye, was both striking and character- 
istic. In the centre of the misty room stood this 
tremendous-looking fellow, like Woden, " god of Saxons," 
and every time he waved his potent napkin a score of 
white familiars might be seen flitting through the smoke 
to take the orders of the visitors. I had heard of 
Sterlitz soup, and having determined to taste that 
famous Russian dainty, an active youth in spotless white 
habiliments was not long in giving me the opportunity. 
It is made of certain portions of the sturgeon of the 
Volga, and is certainly deserving of a place beside the 
turtle-soup of the Albion, and the Bisque d' Ecrivisse 
of the Trois Freres. Every country, says Car erne, has 
one good dish, we must put down Sterlitz soup as the 
Russian Cheval de Bataille. It must not be supposed that 
I had made sufficient progress in the Russian language 
to call for this delicacy myself, but I had for my next 
neighbour at the small table at which I sat, a young 
Russian officer of artillery, and, as is invariably the case, 



THE ANGL0-MUJ1K. 



139 



with these gentlemen in similar circumstances, lie under- 
took to be my interpreter with the waiter. While we 
sat and waited we were joined by an Englishman who 
had gone through tremendous exertions in the crowd of 
the morning. His motto, as he told us, was "When in 
Rome to do as Rome does," and accordingly he had 
taken every pains to deserve the character of an Anglo- 
mujik. On his first arrival, he had made himself ill 
drinking quass, which must have been to him what the 
doctor's soup was to Pallet in the banquet after the 
manner of the ancients, in Peregrine Pickle, and next he 
made himself nearly drunk with vodka, because he had 
been informed that it was the natural beverage of the 
country ; lastly, that he might be pure Sclavonic and no 
mistake, he had purchased a tremendous sheepskin coat, 
that weighed about four or five stone, and flourished, or 
rather staggered, about in it with the thermometer at 
about 90° in the shade. It should be observed that 
these coats, which are most excellent for the purpose 
intended, are only worn by the mujiks, and serve them 
at once for clothing, bed, and very often for lodging. 
When new they have a tremendous animal odour, so it 
may be imagined what effect our friend's arrival produced 
in a close room, and amongst a company of young 
officers bedizened in silver and gold. But our friend 
was perfectly indifferent ; he was in Rome and would do 
as Pome did, therefore he stuck to his quass and vodka, 
clung to his sheepskin, and even allowed the boy to take 
the first whiff at his pipe, although the expression of his 
face while this preliminary was going on showed how 
severe was the self-inflicted martyrdom. He was not 
five minutes at table when he bluntly asked the young 
officer if it were true that the Russians liked the French 
better than the English, and the answer, which I give 
almost verbatim, is I think worth preserving : "I cannot 
say how it may be amongst civilians, but I know that in 
the Crimea, the French officers were at first (principally 
on account of their language) on the more familiar terms 



140 



THE MOSCOW RAILWAY. 



with us. But we. soon found out that many of them, 
especially in the line regiments, were illiterate men, and 
almost always of inferior birth [he used a still stronger 
expression], while the English officers were all gentlemen 
like ourselves, as you know that Russian officers are all 
selected from the ranks of the noblesse." The Anglo- 
mujik was perfectly delighted with this answer, and 
immediately proposed standing a bottle of Clicquot, which, 
however, our young Russian friend politely declined. 
Chatting freely in this way, I spent an hour very 
pleasantly in the Traktir, which I do not think deserves 
the hard things that have been said about it. Apropos 
of these adverse criticisms, I shall finish my letter with 
an anecdote, for the corectness of which I can vouch. 
A Russian officer of high rank was recently reading in a 
cafe some severe strictures quoted in Galignani, upon the 
Russian Traktir. " Well," he said at last, at the same 
time laying down his spectacles, " this may be all true, 
but the Prince of Prussia and the Grand Duke Constan- 
tine dined the other day at a Traktir, and they must 
know something about the luxuries and usages of civi- 
lised life. It is rather strange then that what satisfied 
Grand Dukes and heirs-apparent should not come up to 
the notions of these gentlemen. " 



LETTER XXIII. 

(not before published.) 

the moscow railway. the passports. the polite gentleman 

at count orloff's. waifs and strays. the merchants' 

dinner. — the serfs. — poor skaiffe's story. departure. 



St. Petersburg, Oct. 6. 
Perhaps you remember — I do, most vividly — the 
dangers and difficulties of my first journey on the 
Moscow railway, when all the world was, like myself, 



THE PASSPORTS 



141 



going to see the coronation. 'Now, all the world is coming 
away, but the excitement is over ; a day more or less 
makes little difference : and so, when I made my appear- 
ance at the terminus yesterday morning, and tendered 
my money submissively to the distinguished general 
covered with orders who presides in the money-takers' 
department, everything passed off in the most leisurely 
manner, and I had ample time and room to take off my 
hat to the half-dozen gentlemen through whose hands I 
had to pass before I took my seat in the train, in that 
easy and graceful style which I trust gives general satis- 
faction. Through the indefatigable exertions of Monsieur 
Chollet, who might be seen any day for a week before 
my departure, rushing up to me every five minutes in 
the most mysterious manner, with a +remendous paper in 
one hand and a pen in the other, and insisting on my 
signing columns of the most perilous-looking hieroglyphics 
— I cannot tell, this minute, whether I am not bound in 
heavy penalties to pay his rent and taxes for the next 
ten years — I had obtained the Czar's permission to leave 
Moscow, always provided that Chollet gave a satisfactory 
account of my financial arrangements. The document 
was really something awful to look at, with the double- 
headed eagle at the top ; then four or five lines of Russian 
capitals ; then twenty or thirty of equally intelligible 
Russian writing ; then seals and stamps and signatures, 
and an instruction to " turn over ; 93 when, on the other 
side was a most detailed description of my personal pecu- 
liarities. In short, it looked as if it must have required 
the whole official strength of all the government depart- 
ments to bring it to its present state of maturity ; and I 
really began to think myself a person of some conse- 
quence, that my going or staying in Moscow should be a 
matter of such importance to the Imperial cabinet. This 
delusion was very much strengthened by the manner of 
Chollet while the pass question was in course of negocia- 
tion. True, he did not say much ; but he winked and 
shrugged a great deal, and alluded mysteriously to the 



142 



THE PASSPORTS. 



Isle of Serpents and the Bolgrod difficulty, which were 
affecting official people in all sorts of ways whenever the 
business of an Englishniau was in hand. One day, 
Prince Koff was taking his siesta when his signature was 
wanted, and to disturb him would have been the Mines 
for life. On another, Count ChofF was at the chasse, 
and to enquire in anything like a pointed manner when 
he'd return might expose you to the surTeiUance of the 
secret police. Then there was General Stoi to be pro- 
pitiated, and Colonel Skoi to be placated ; until at last, 
when the completed document was presented to my 
longing eyes. I clutched it with the eagerness of the 
gallant officer in the third act of the melodrama, who is 
just going to be shot by a file of those veterans who are 
the pride and glory of our stage, when Mr. Stuart or 
some other professor of the heavy business rushes up 
from the back scenes with his pardon in his hand. I 
felt myself a new man as I gazed on the splendid en- 
graving of the double-headed eagle, that triumph of 
Russian art that rills the whole top of the paper. I 
made Chollet point out to me which was the signature of 
ChofF, and which the indispensable sign-manual of Koff ; 
where Stoi had impressed his initials, and the comer in 
which the modest Skoi deposed to having seen the docu- 
ment. I have a horrid suspicion to this day that Chollet 
knew little more about it than myself, but made bold 
guesses, and fixed the rank of the signers according to the 
flourishes of the signatures. He believed in it all, however, 
most reverently : for I know he was incapable of wilful 
delusion. 

But the best of the story is yet to come. After all 
these hopes and fears — Chollet's perspiring agonies and 
my own cruel suspense — a few roubles here and roubles 
there, in fees, fines, and douceurs, when I came to the 
railway pay-office this wonderful paper was never asked 
for at all ! I had jumped from my droschki bold as a 
lion, flashed my pass at the mounted gensdarmes in the 
courtyard, and shook it in the face of the budishnik who 



A RAILWAY ADVENTURE. 



143 



stood at the inner door. I approached the pay-table 
with my pass held aloft in one hand, my nineteen roubles 
in the other, and my hat between my teeth, when, to my 
great surprise, General- Adjutant Count Checktakeroff, 
who was covered with orders, entered the desk, clutched 
the money, and treated the much-prized and hardly-won 
pass with the most sublime indifference. From that day 
to the present it never was asked for, and I have it now 
as a curious souvenir of my Russian journey. This may 
all appear very strange, but it is capable of easy solution. 
The Emperor, who I have every reason to believe is one 
of the best disposed sovereigns that ever ascended the 
Russian throne, gave orders that strangers visiting Moscow 
during the coronation should have every facility of transit ; 
but the Russian official system, besides being the most 
complex and over-manned, is the least efficient in the 
world. The communication between the different depart- 
ments is exceedingly imperfect, so that one may be carry- 
ing on some new plan with tremendous vigour, while the 
other is pertinaciously adhering to the old forms. That 
was precisely the case with the passes and passports ; the 
railway authorities had the proper instructions, but the 
other bureaus stuck to the old roundabout methods. 

When my companion and I — I always fraternise with 
somebody on a journey — a lively and restless little Gaul, 
to whom it was a heavy punishment to be obliged to sit 
still for two minutes together, arrived at the train, we 
found plenty of room — very different from the upward 
journey — and immediately took possession of the saloon, 
in which my friend could pace up and down in the day- 
time, like a tiger in his den, and each of us could extem- 
porise a bed when night came on. We got on very 
comfortably for the first twelve horns, and at night made 
eveiything snug ; my friend building himself up like the 
nun in the wall, with fur cloaks, railway wrappers, and 
other travelling appendages, with which he was bountifully 
supplied. I also composed myself to slumber, and we 
were both I suppose happy dreaming of our respective 



144 



A RAILWAY ADVENTURE. 



homes, when about midnight we were startled by a tre- 
mendous bustle, and on opening our eyes found our 
sanctum about to be invaded by a tremendous family 
party, consisting of a man, three females, a nurse, and a 
baby. The man piled bandboxes, trunks, and portmanteaus 
about the seats, reckless as to whom he incommoded ; the 
ladies commenced chattering, as if they had been suffering 
the penalties of the silent system for the previous six 
months ; while the nurse, a mild woman of about eighteen 
stone, plumped herself down on my friend's feet, and 
taking out a rattle, attempted with it to pacify the baby, 
who showed unequivocal symptoms of a dislike to railway 
travelling. In a moment our peaceful home was turned 
into a tower of Babel, and we felt as if we could immolate 
on the spot the man who could be the head of such an ill- 
regulated family. My friend first murmured, then growled, 
then exploded in a torrent of unexceptionable French, to 
which the Huss, who probably knew no language but his 
own, listened with commendable equanimity. What was 
to be done ? We pondered, and narrowly scanned the 
enemy, who in an evil hour for himself was so absent as 
to pull out his railway ticket, which we saw was a red 
one, whereas we knew a first-class ticket should be green. 
My friend, like Wellington at Talavera, saw the weak 
point at once, and when we came to the next station laid 
his complaint at the feet of field-marshal the conductor. 
He tried him in French, then in German, but the stern 
official only shook his head. Then he appealed to the 
universal language of signs ; gave a plump that nearly 
destroyed his equilibrium, to indicate the savage on- 
slaught of the nurse ; reckoned up the chattering ladies on 
his fingers ; and finally, throwing himself into a maternal 
attitude, commenced nursing an imaginary baby with a 
playful vigour that was quite charming. His imitation 
of the squall and other infantile demonstrations was 
nature itself, and at once flashed conviction into the mind 
of the conductor. Suddenly this worthy found out that 
he could talk German, and he attempted to terrify my 



A RAILWAY ADVENTURE. 



145 



friend by telling him that the intruders were some great 
Russian family, and that to disturb them would expose 
all concerned to the most imminent peril But our little 
Gaul was not to be done : he called me to his side, and 
describing me as some dreadfully influential American, 
swore that I was that moment meditating a personal 
memorial to the Emperor, to be presented by Colonel 
Seymour, laying bare the whole of our grievance. The 
conductor was evidently checkmated : he scratched the 
small corner of his ear which his steel casque left 
uncovered, and rushing into the carriage, made a feeling 
address to the Russian party. The altercation rapidly grew 
hot, but was soon cut short by the abrupt retirement of 
the conductor, who in the twinkling of an eye returned 
with four terrible-looking gensdarmes, and forcibly ex- 
pelled the enemy, bag and baggage. I, who had quite 
enjoyed the whole affair, and was merely a looker-on, 
rather felt for the poor women and little baby, although 
it certainly had a vicious propensity for squalling. It 
was truly a mournful procession — a miniature of the 
flight of the Israelites out of Egypt — but when the party 
arrived on the platform the whole murder came out. 
The head of this worthy family had taken only one 
second-class ticket for the whole lot, and with the 
assistance of a few roubles to our friend the conductor, 
had obtained the privilege of thus filling the saloon of 
the first-class carriage. I was informed that such incidents 
are of regular occurrence on this admirably-managed line, 
and I commend this particular one to the attention of the 
authorities, when they are next investigating the reasons 
why it pays no dividends. 

But the whole system of railway management in this 
country is as puerile as it is vexatious. During the 
height of the coronation fever, the ordinary one train a 
day was found wholly inefficient to accommodate the enor- 
mous influx of passengers ; and accordingly the Emperor 
ordered a second train to be put on. Xo sooner 
was this done, than all the lazy people determined 

L 



146 THE POUTE GENTLEMAN" AT COUNT OKLOFF's. 

to wait for the second train, and the consequence was, 
that one fine day there were sixty vacant places in the 
first. This made his excellency the general who repre- 
sents Captain Huish in Russia so wroth, that he at once 
countermanded the second train ; and at two o'clock 
the terminus might be seen surrounded by about a 
thousand distracted persons of all nations, sitting dis- 
consolate on piles of carpet-bags and portmanteaus, like 
Marius amid the ruins of Carthage. The sapient general 
had, by his masterly manoeuvre, punished the sixty lazy 
people who were not up to time, in the persons of the 
thousand who had had nothing whatever to do with their 
misconduct. 

My first business on arriving in St. Petersburg was to 
pay my respects to the mysterious gentleman in the 
bureau of the secret police, universally known to strangers 
in Russia as "The polite gentleman at Count OrlofPs."* 
I have asked his name from dozens of people, but never 
could get any reply other than a mysterious, terrified 
shake of the head, and a friendly caution not to be too 
curious. For my own part, I never could see anything 
very terrible in this much-dreaded personage. I have 
heard stories about his committing men to prison for 
coughing in the ante-room, and with his own hand bon- 
netting an Englishman who so far forgot himself as not to 
take off his hat in the imperial chancelierie. A French- 
man came to me one day with tears in his eyes, and told 
me that " the polite gentleman n had rebuked him for a 
similar offence, by reinincLing him that he was now not in 
France, but in Russia ; thereby intimating that the 
polished nation par excellence must come to the north to 
learn manners. But, to me, "the polite gentleman " 
was always polite, even friendly. When I came to him 
first, he gate me an early turn, and almost petrified 
with a look a German who, having waited a couple of 
hours, was absurd enough to grumble. He inquired, in 



* Now Prince Dplgoronki's. 



M. KOKOKEF. 



147 



accents of almost personal interest, where I was born, 
what was my profession, and, above all, what was my 
object in coming to Russia — by the way, a general 
question with the Russians, who seem never to clream 
that any one would be mad enough to visit their country 
for amusement. For themselves, they get out of it as 
soon as they can, and never return until they can't help 
it, nor even speak their own language, except to their 
servants, while they speak others so fluently that they 
can pass for natives of any country in Europe. On my 
return from Moscow, "the polite gentleman" recognised 
me at once, and his eyes sparkled with delight as I 
recounted to him the splendours of the coronation. When 
I told him of the Kremlin ball, with its twenty- five thou- 
sand invitations, he exclaimed, " Ah, you could never see 
that anywhere but in Russia ! Twenty-five thousand 
people ! The population of a German capital city." He did 
my business with the most marvellous celerity, and gave 
me one or two directions which enabled me to get in a few 
hours the permission to depart, which other people com- 
plained cost them whole weeks of trouble. Finally, he 
rose from his chair, shook hands with me in the most 
friendly manner, and wished me a prosperous journey, and 
I parted from him impressed with the idea that he was a 
true patriotic Russian, a capital man of business, and, 
although surrounded by an atmosphere of bribery, per- 
fectly inaccessible to corruption. 

On my arrival in Petersburg, one of the first things I 
heard of was the dinner given in Moscow by M. Kokoref, 
and the wonderful speech he made to the mujik mer- 
chants. This recalled to my recollection the merchants' 
dinner at the riding-school, and the rumours there preva- 
lent of the scurvy way in which the hosts were treated by 
Count Zagrewsky, the Governor of Moscow. At the 
time, I alluded to it in the slightest possible manner, 
because, although inundated with stories from the 
aggrieved parties, I had not time or means of ascertain- 
ing their correctness • and I knew too well that in Russia, 

l 2 



148 C0U2sT ZAGKEWSKY AXD THE MEBCHAOT. 

where there are so few newspapers, the most absurd and 
false reports are constantly flying about. Eut as there is 
no smoke without fire, I have come to the conclusion that 
there was a true foundation for the complaints there 
made, and I believe the facts to be nearly as follow. 
During the great fair of Novogorod, a merchant of the 
first guild, who was there from Moscow on business, was 
one evening enjoying himself at a Traktir, and, forgetful 
of the police regulations, ventured out on the platform in 
front of the house to smoke his segar. A policeman 
coming up, ordered him peremptorily to put it out ; but 
the merchant, who had taken a glass of wine, as peremp- 
torily refused ; whereupon the budishnick knocked him 
down. The merchant picked himself up in violent indig- 
nation, called his Isvodstchik, and drove off to the house 
of the Governor to complain. The Governor was at the 
theatre, whither the merchant, still boiling over, followed 
him, and sent in such an urgent message, that his Excel- 
lency hurried out to see what could possibly be the 
matter. The merchant made his complaint, expecting 
instant satisfaction ; but the Governor, finding that it 
was only a merchant of the first guild, who had been 
knocked down by a policeman, was so angry that he 
should be disturbed in the middle of the play for such an 
insignificant cause, that he gave the poor merchant a 
smart box on the ear, and sent him about his business. 
I believe he sent for him the next morning, pleaded 
vinous excitement, and made an apology ; but the story 
soon reached Moscow, and when the merchants there got 
an intimation from Count Zagrewsky that they were 
expected to give the officers and soldiers a grand dinner, 
they grumbled about the Novogorod affair, and, at last, 
were only hospitable on compulsion. A soreness was thus 
created in the mind of the Governor, who is a regular 
old soldier ; and so when he saw them mustering strong 
in the riding-school, on the day of the dinner, he ordered 
a lot of them out ; on the ground, which was certainly not 
unreasonable, that if the hosts took up all the seats, there 



BRANDY FARMING. 



149 



would be no room for the guests, to the number of four 
thousand, who had been invited. But all the first men 
remained ; and the Golova, or Lord Mayor of Moscow, 
sat at the Emperors own table, and proposed the Em- 
perors health, while numbers of the leading men stood at 
the head of the Ixaie which was formed when he rose to 
depart. I think I can call to mind somewhat parallel 
cases nearer home, where certain civic banquets being 
given to illustrious personages, the hosts waxed so 
numerous as to leave the guests hardly room to dance, or 
even sit down. Let us, then, think of the beam, drc. 

But here come the immense advantages of the publicity 
which in England is prized as the palladium of national 
liberty. There were then in Moscow special corres- 
pondents from the principal European papers, and such a 
story was sure to get wind. It was felt that something- 
wrong had been done, and, what was worse, that the 
world would soon find it out. Hence, ever since, every 
one in power has been polite to the merchants, and 
M. Kokoref was evidently "put up" to show how elo- 
quent, how patriotic, and in what high social positions 
are the Russian merchants. But it must be remembered 
that M. Kokoref is one of the men who make large 
fortunes by farming the brandy monopoly from the 
government, and is therefore as much an official as if he 
prefixed General to his name, and had his breast covered 
with stars and crosses. Further, I would rather have 
heard the fine sentiments attributed to him from a man 
who came into court with cleaner hands ; for, be it 
remembered, that if there is one thing more than another 
that brutifies and keeps down the poor mujik, it is this 
very brandy monopoly, which makes it the interest of 
men like M. Kokoref to encourage habits of intoxication 
by every means in their power. The dreadful stuff called 
Vodka is forced upon the poor peasant in all sorts of 
ways, direct and indirect ; and his only alternative is to 
be a drunkard or a marked man with all the petty officials, 
who have only too much power to persecute him. But 



150 



TEE INSTITUTION OF SERFDOM. 



never mind, if the speech of M. Kokoref be not a faith- 
worthy expression of true principles, it is a tardy recogni- 
tion of then value, and that recognition is the first step, 
although still a great way off, towards their general 
adoption. 

M Kokoref, and the merchants, and the mujiks, 
brings this, my last, long, rambling letter round to a 
subject which, as a traveller in Russia, I cannot altogether 
ignore ; although the shortness of my visit, and my few 
opportunities for observation, must necessarily render 
what I have to say loose and hesitating. I am not one 
of those who would plunge recklessly into a country, fly 
over it in railway-trains for a few weeks, and then think 
myself competent to speak dogmatically on its statistics, 
politics, religion, and social institutions. Still, the insti- 
tution of serfdom is so exceptional in a country which 
professes to be one of the civilised nations of Europe, that 
it naturally provokes some observation from even the 
most careless traveller. It is certainly, above everything 
and before everything, the great ulcer and plague-spot of 
Russia, as slavery is that of America, retarding her pro- 
gress in civilisation, preventing the development of her 
vast physical resources, tying up the hands of her govern- 
ment, demoralising her noblesse, and brutalising her 
naturally amiable and improveable people. During my 
sojourn in this country, I have seen every day and every 
hour proofs of the wretched results of this slightly diluted 
slavery : but fairness obliges me to add, more than one 
indication that the question has begun seriously to stir 
the public mind, and that the governing powers have at 
length taken it into their serious consideration. As a 
straw thrown up shows the way the wind sets, I accept, 
as a hopeful omen, the rumour that prevailed in Peters- 
burg and Moscow, for many days previous to the coro- 
nation, that the Czar intended to signalise his solemn 
investiture with the imperial crown by some grand and 
comprehensive step in the direction of emancipation. I 
did not believe it, I must confess ; but it showed what 



THE HOPE OF EMANCIPATION". 



151 



was the public feeling as to what ought to be done ; and 
therefore I was delighted to hear repeated confidently, in 
every quarter, that on the day of the coronation, 
Alexander the Second was to issue an ukase ordering that 
every child born in Russia from that day forward should 
be free, no matter whether his or her parents were or 
were not serfs. 

The coronation came and passed away, and, just as I 
expected, no ukase ; but still the gossip was kept up, 
and during the whole time that has elapsed since, I 
have found that the two questions of serfdom and eman- 
cipation are the most engrossing topics with every Russian 
possessed of the slightest spark of intelligence. It has 
struck me as another hopeful symptom — and, also, as a 
thing rather curious in itself — that every one here talks 
of the poor mujik as "our people/' " our peasants," or 
some other respectable substitute for the name which 
ought to bum the lips of whoever uttered it with 
acceptance or approval. 

I have discussed the question with very charming 
young ladies, with very fierce-looking military and naval 
officers, and with intelligent and well-to-do merchants. I 
have found nobody afraid of it, every one wishing for 
change ; but what has most surprised me was that 
amongst the gentle daughters of Eve were to be found 
the most reluctant abolitionists. But one thing — and it 
is an immense step in the right direction — is universally 
admitted, viz., that something must be done to settle the 
question before Russia again attempts to play the dictator 
or arbitrator beyond her own frontier. There seems 
to me to be a dark undefined dread pervading all the 
governing classes, that sooner or later a ruthless Jacques 
Bonhomme will rise up in Russia, and marshalling the 
huge mujik population with some talismanic word wreak 
a terrible vengeance for the tyranny and oppressions of 
centuries. And some premonitory symptoms of such a 
state of things have already appeared — but more of this 
lower down. It is very probable that, as with many 



152 THE FIRST INSTITUTION OF SERFDOM. 

other topics of Russian politics with the names of which 
our quidnuncs play with great familiarity, the real state 
of the serf question is very little understood in England. 
I am informed by the apologists for the institution — it 
has no vindicators in Russia — that the peasants were first 
made ddscripbi glebce by Boris Gudunoff the Usurper, to 
check the nomadic habits that had up to his time prevailed 
amongst them. This man, among many faults, had some 
good qualities, and was far in advance of his time in 
governing faculty and statesmanlike turn of thought. 
He found the tribes of which the Muscovite people was 
composed squatting rather than living on the land, stop- 
ping in one place until they had eaten up everything 
eatable, and then wandering off, Heaven knew where, in 
search of new pasture, so that he might one day look at 
his map and point to a populous province, or government, 
as they are called, and the next find that the very same 
place was a howling wilderness, given over to the wolves 
and bears. He knew that while this wandering was 
permitted, no civilisation could go on, and therefore, 
having ascertained who and how many were living in 
certain places on a certain day, he issued an ukase fixing 
them to the spot, making them serfs of the boyard to 
whom the land belonged, and furnishing each with a code 
of the reciprocal duties which the government expected 
each to discharge towards the other, or to the state. 

The master was to give the serf home, land, and pro- 
tection, and to store up in abundant years for times of 
famine, so that his people might not want, or become a 
burden to the state. In return for this, the serf was 
bound to give his master tivo days' work out of the six 
that formed the working week, not to leave the land 
without his permission, and when he did leave it to seek 
his fortune elsewhere, to pay his master an annual per 
centage, not more jpro rata than our income tax, upon his 
earnings. This would not appear a hard bondage for a 
simple and half savage peasantry, but in every year that 
has elapsed since the time of Boris the condition of the 



THE BO YARD AND THE OLD SERF. 153 

serf has been growing worse, the exactions of the master 
becoming greater, and the cries of oppression and hardship 
more and more heartrending. Instead of two days 
to the master, the poor nmjik has now only two for 
himself, he is in constant dread of being sent off to the 
army or the mines for the slightest offence, his wife and 
daughter are at the mercy of the brutal intendant, who 
in so many cases supplies the place of an absent lord, and 
if he make any appeal to the judicial tribunals of the 
country he is laughed at for his pains ; the intendant 
bribes the judge before his face, and when he returns to 
the estates heaps ten times more ill-usage on him than 
ever he had suffered before. 

None but an eye-witness could realise the treatment to 
which the poor mujik is obliged to submit. On one 
occasion, a friend of mine whom I believe to be incapable 
of saying the thing that was not, visited a landed 
proprietor near Moscow, who, as boyards go, is by no 
means a bad master, but still he indulges in the luxury 
of the freeborn Yankee in rather an energetic manner. 
While he and my friend were sipping a glass of undeniable 
Clicquot — these boyards are princes in hospitality, — a 
deputation of his peasants were ushered into the saloon 
to tell him of some misfortune that had happened to the 
village — a hen-roost blown down, or something cf that 
sort. The head of the deputation was a venerable-looking 
old man, such as Rembrandt would have delighted to 
paint, and as he told his simple story and made his 
simple apology his appearance was quite patriarchal. But 
whatever was the misfortune, it so excited the ire of his 
master, a man in the prime of life, that he grasped the 
old man by the silver hair that flowed majestically down 
the side of his head, dashed him upon the ground, and 
commenced kicking him with ungovernable fury. Not one 
of the group, two sons amongst the rest, stirred a limb, and 
the poor victim himself only sought to kiss the foot whose 
mission seemed to be to kick his brains out. My friend 
being rather unaccustomed to this sort of thing, sprung 



154 



THE TWO BOYS BLASTER A2sT> SERF. 



from his much-beloved Clicquot and drew off the fury. 
The boyard submitted with a good grace — the Russian 
gentry are models of politeness — but seemed to think 
that the stranger's objection to his little escapade arose 
from that singular crotchetty turn of mind that obtains 
for Englishmen the reputation of being a little " cracked " 
all over the continent. He averred that a thrashing 
was the only thing a mujik understood, and that the 
most severe and harsh masters were universally the 
most beloved by their serfs. The Englishman quoted 
the proverb — 

A woman, a spaniel, a walnut tree, 

The more they're beaten the "better they'll be, 

with which his host was hugely delighted, and, substitu- 
ing the word "mujik" for "spaniel," at once inserted 
the lines in his common-place book. 

But ever jelling, even mujik endurance, has its limits. 
I was informed that shortly before my arrival in Russia, 
a dreadful tragedy had occurred at a village about a 
hundred miles south of the holy city. A young boyard, 
when starting on a journey, left a favourite greyhound in 
the safe keeping of a boy, one of his father's serfs. On 
his return he found his dog lame, and making enquiry, 
learned that the accident had occurred through some 
negligence on the part of the poor boy. Stung to 
fury by the misfortune of his much-prized dog, he sum- 
moned the luckless lad into his presence, and having 
reproached him for his crime, set his whole pack of dogs 
upon him, and let them tear him to pieces in the saloon. 
The boy's father, who had been cutting wood in a neigh- 
bouring forest, hearing the cries, rushed into the house, 
axe in hand, and on seeing the mangled and still quiver 
ing body of his son, at once forgot all his habits of abject 
servility, rushed upon the young tyrant, and clove his 
skull open with the axe. The poor man immediately 
delivered himself up to justice, but whether owing to the 
excitement which the offence had caused amongst the 
mujiks, or the extremity of his provocation, he was 



poof skaiffe's stoky. 



1 55 



merely sent to a monastery to spend the remainder of his 
days in quietness and comfort. 

But every question has two sides, and I have also 
heard some dark stories, about the thievish propensities 
of the mujiks, and the sanguinary revenge they some- 
times take, when any man placed over them in authority 
attempts a reform. The story of poor Skaiffe, Prince 
Galatzin's English jockey, is in everyone's mouth here. 
The Prince, who is or was a great amateur in turf 
matters, brought Skaiffe over from England at a large 
salary to superintend his racing stud. Our countryman 
went about his work vigorously, as most Englishmen do, 
and soon made short work with the neglect, plunder, and 
corruption that he found to be universal amongst his 
master's mujik servants. He won golden opinions from 
the gentlemen, rose rapidly, and rode his own horses, 
with which he won several valuable prizes. But the 
snake was scotched, not killed, the mujiks were only 
biding their time, and it came at last, in the evening 
before the day when Skaiffe was to ride his favourite 
English horse for a prize cup filled with golden eagles. 
He had retired early to bed in order that he might be 
fresh for the work of the next morning, but had not 
been more than an hour in bed, when one of the stable- 
boys rushed into his room in apparent alarm, and told 
him that the pet horse was in convulsions. Skaiffe 
hastily drew on his trousers, and thus half-dressed, 
rushed out to the stable, which was at some distance 
from the house. He was never seen again alive, but the 
next morning his dead body was found dangling from a 
tree in the coppice which sheltered the stables from the 
north wind. His master, and, in fact, all the sporting 
nobility of Russia, with whom he had been a great 
favourite, were deeply shocked, and made the most 
strenuous efforts to discover the offender, but the result 
of their exertions was never known, as the system here is 
secrecy in everything, even the administration of justice. 

Such is the system which hangs like a millstone round 



156 



DEPARTURE. 



the neck of Hussia, and ties her hands when she dreams 
of foreign aggression. The whole atmosphere of the vast 
empire is laden with dread whispers of a niujik insurrec- 
tion. Nobody knows whence they come or who is the 
author, but they exist, and create fear and trembling in 
high places. Should such an insurrection indeed break 
out, God help the noblesse ; nothing that we have ever 
read of, of Jacquerie, of French revolution, of St. 
Domingo, of Gallicia, so near home, could compare for a 
moment with the scenes which a universal outbreak of 
long pent-up mujik vengeance would produce in the wide 
dominions of the Czar. 

I have now completely emptied my budget of all my 
Russian anecdotes, and have exhausted my small reflec- 
tive powers in the accompanying comments. I have 
nothing more left to do, but pack up, pay my little bill, 
join my worthy friend Captain Kroger, in his tight little 
C( DampschifF," Neva, and make the best of my way back 
to Old England, which, although not boasting so large an 
army, nor such a profusion of pearls and diamonds as 
Russia, has still a few substantial, although perhaps 
commonplace, advantages which are not altogether to be 
despised. 



APPENDIX. 



THE PROGRAMME. 

CEREMONIAL CONFIRMED BY HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER 
NICOLAIE WITCH, AUTOCRAT OF ALL THE RUSSIAS, OF HIS SOLEMN 
ENTRY INTO THE CAPITAL OF MOSCOW, AND HIS CORONATION. 

I. 

SOLEMN ENTRY. 

On the day appointed by his Majesty for the procession from 
the Petrofsky Palace to Moscow, at a signal given by nineteen 
guns from the vicinity of the Tchoudof monastery, when M^ss 
is commenced at the great cathedral of the Assumption, the 
troops will form in the places assigned to them. The officials 
belonging to the Court will also assemble according to their 
rank, his Majesty will mount on horseback, and the Empress 
with the Imperial Family will take their seats in the carriages, 
the procession forming in the following order : — 

The chief of the police with twelve gensdarmes on horseback, 
tw 7 o and two. 

The special escort of his Imperial Majesty. 

A squadron of the Black Sea Cossacks of the guard. 

The principal nobles on horseback in uniform, two and two, 
with the Marshal of the Nobility of the district of Moscow. 

The Asiatic representatives and those of the various nations 
subject to Russia on horseback, two and two. 

The chief officer of the palace on horseback, with sixty court 
servants, six grooms of the chamber, six runners, two and two, 
on foot. 

The imperial huntsmen on horseback, twenty jagers on foot, 
two and two, in state liveries. 

Two masters of ceremonies in an open phaeton, with their 
insignia. 

The grand master of the ceremonies in an open phaeton drawn 
by six horses. 

Twenty-four under gentlemen of the chamber on horseback, 
two and two, preceded by an M.C. also on horseback. 



158 



APPENDIX. 



Twelve gentlemen of the chamber on horseback, two and two, 
preceded by an M.C. also on horseback. 

Officers of the stable and two grooms on horseback. 

Officers of the court of the second rank in gilded carriages. 

The court marshal in an open carriage, with his insignia. 

Officers of the court of the first rank, in gilded carnages. 

The members of the Imperial Council, in like carriages. 

The chief court marshal in an open carriage, with a sceptre. 

The imperial Horse Guards and mounted Life Guards. 

HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY, on horseback, followed by the 
minister of the household, the minister of war, and a general 
and aide-de-camp of the imperial suite. 

Their Imperial Highnesses the Heir Apparent Nicholas Alex- 
androvitehj the Grand Dukes Alexander, Constantine, Xicholai, 
and Michael, the Prince Romanoff Duke of Leuchtenberg, the 
Prince Peter of Oldenburg, and the foreign princes, on horse- 
back. 

The generals of various grades attached to the persons of his 
Majesty and their Imperial Highnesses. 

The Empress Dowager in a gilded carriage surmounted by the 
imperial crown, and drawn by eight horses, each with a groom. 
On the right of the carriage, the chief equerry : on the left, the 
adjutant-general attached to her Majesty, on horseback : with 
two pages behind on the foot-board and four Cossacks of the 
chamber in state uniforms. Behind the carriage, six pages of 
the chamber and two groorns on horseback. 

Her Majesty the Empress Marie Alexandrowna, with his 
Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovitch, in 
a carriage like the preceding, and similarly attended. 

The Grand Duchesses Maria Pavlovna and Alexandra Josifo- 
vana, in state carriages, with mounted attendants. 

The Grand Duchesses Alexandra Petrovna and Elena Pav- 
lovna, in carriages similarly attended. 

The Grand Duchesses Maria Nikolaevna and Ekaterina 
Michailovna. 

Her Imperial Highness the Princess of Oldenburg. All in 
carriages similarly attended. 

A squadron of the Cuirassiers of the Guard. 

Ladies of the bedchamber and maids of honour of the 
Empress and Grand Duchesses. 

Squadrons of the Hussars of the Guard and of the Lancers of 
the Guard. 

The moment his Imperial Majesty enters the City of 
Moscow, a salvo of seventy-one guns will be fired, and his 
Excellency the Military Governor-General of Moscow, at the 
head of his subordinates, will receive his Majesty, and join the 
procession. 



APPENDIX. 



159 



At the entrance of the quarter called the Zemliannoi Gorod, 
the functionaries of the Town Hall and magistrates will meet 
the procession. 

At the quarter called the Bielvi Gorod, the Marshal of the 
Nobility of the government of Moscow, and the chief nobles 
will join. 

At the Gate of the Resurrection, the Imperial Family will 
descend from their carriages and horses, to salute the image 
of the Virgin of Iversk, and the procession will halt until they 
remount. 

At the Holy Gate, the Commandant of Moscow and his staff 
will receive the procession, and at the cathedral of the Assump- 
tion, the directing senate. 

Along the line of the procession the various clergy will come 
out of the churches with images and crosses. The houses of 
the streets through which the cortege passes will be decorated 
by the inhabitants. 

Their Majesties and their Imperial Highnesses, together with 
all those who follow them in the procession, will alight at the 
Krasnoe Kryltze. 

Those who precede their Majesties in the procession will pass, 
without stopping, round the cathedral of the Assumption, and 
will descend from their carriages at the north gate, by which 
the members of the Council will enter the cathedral. The 
officers of the Court will proceed along the east side of the 
church, and place themselves at the south gate, where they will 
await the departure of his Majesty the Emperor. 

The Holy Synod and the Clergy having previously sung, in 
the Cathedral of the Assumption, a Te Deum in thanksgiving 
for the safe arrival of his Majesty the Emperor, and prayed for 
the preservation of his life, will go to meet the imperial Family 
in the Court of the Cathedral, with the cross and holy water, 
and then precede them into the church 3 while the choristers 
sing a psalm from the second canticle. 

By this time persons of distinction of both sexes will have 
assembled in the cathedral. 

At the entry of their Majesties into the church, a salvo of 
eighty-five guns will be fired. Their Imperial Majesties, after 
having kissed the holy images and the relics, proceed, with the 
Metropolitan of Moscow before them, to the Cathedrals of the 
Archangel Michael and of the Annunciation, where also, before 
the arrival of their Majesties, a Te Deuni will be sung. In the 
first of these cathedrals, their Majesties will be received by one 
of the Archbishops, and in the other by their Confessor. 
Having kissed the holy images and the relics in these cathedrals, 
and bo wed themselves before the tombs of their ancestors in 
the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, their Majesties will 



160 



APPENDIX. 



proceed to the Palace of the Kremlin. Their Majesties will be 
accompanied to their apartments by the Court, in the order 
prescribed for ordinary Court solemnities. 

Their Majesties, on their arrival at the Palace of the Kremlin, 
will be received by the Clergy of the Court, with the cross and 
the holy water, the Arch-Marshal of the Coronation, and the 
President and members of the Comptoir du Palais will present 
bread and salt to his Majesty the Emperor. 

At this moment a salvo of 101 guns will be fired. The bells 
of the churches will ring throughout the day, and in the 
evening the city will be illuminated. 



IT. 

PROCLAMATION OF THE CORONATION. 

The ceremony of the coronation will be solemnly announced 
to the people on the three previous days by a general adjutant 
having the rank of full general, two ditto, with the rank of 
major-general, two secretaries of the senate, two heralds, four 
court masters of the ceremonies, two secretaries of the senate 
with staffs of office, escorted by cavalry with full trumpet bands, 
all in state uniforms, and with 12 stud horses in state trappings 
with feathers. 

On the first day, at nine a.m., they will assemble at the 
Kremlin, and the procession being marshalled, the heralds, at 
an order given by the General Commandant, will raise their 
batons, and at this signal, the rest will uncover, the trumpets 
will sound the call, and one of the secretaries will then, in a 
loud voice, read the following proclamation : — 

" Our very august, high, and mighty Lord, the Emperor 
Alexander Nicolaevitch, having ascended the hereditary throne 
of his ancestors, that of all the Russias, and of the Kingdom of 
Poland and Grand Duchy of Finland, which are inseparable 
from it, has deigned to command that the coronation and con- 
secration of his Imperial Majesty, and his holy anointing, 
shall take place on the 26th day of this present August, and 
that his august spouse, her Imperial Majesty, the Empress 
Maria Alexandrovna, shall take part in that holy ceremony. 
This solemn act is announced by the present proclamation 
to all his faithful subjects, in order that on that happy day 
they may redouble the fervour of their prayers to the King of 
Kings, that He may diffuse by His almighty power, His favours 
and His blessings over the reign of his Majesty; and that, while 
it lasts, he may maintain peace and tranquillity to the glory of 



APPENDIX. 



161 



His holy name, and for the unalterable prosperity of the 
empire." 

After the reading of this proclamation, the heralds distribute 
printed copies of it to the people and the trumpeters play the 
National hymn — " God save the Czar." 

The procession will then go through the Holy Gate to the 
place called Krasnaia, towards the monument of the Prince 
Pojarsky and of Minine. 

Here the procession re-forms, reversing the detail, and with 
cavalry preceding it, the proclamation is read at the three other 
gates of the Kremlin, and at various places in the city, the pro- 
cession dividing into two bodies for that purpose, the number of 
places where the proclamation is made being twelve on the first 
day, twelve on the second day, and eight on the third. In proceed- 
ing from one point to the other, the bands will play a march. 

The announcement of the day of the coronation will be made 
to the various foreign ambassadors by the various masters of 
ceremonies, in state carriages. 



III. 

DECORATION OF THE CATHEDRAL OF THE ASSUMPTION. 

A dais will be erected covered with crimson velvet, with 
ornaments of gilt metal and gold embroidery, with gold cords, 
tassels, and fringes; the lining will be of cloth of gold, the 
cornice of gilt carved work. At the corners of the cornice will 
be gilt imperial crowns, and in the middle of each side gilded 
eagles, and a carved ornament on the summit decorated with 
ostrich feathers of the imperial colours, and around the vallon 
will be wrought in coloured embroidery shields with his 
Majesty's name, surmounted by crowns. On the ceiling of the 
dais will be the arms of the empire in embroidery, with those 
of the kingdoms of Kazan, Astrakhan, Poland, Siberia, the 
Tauridan Chersonesus, and Georgia, and of the provinces and 
grand duchies of Kief, Vladimir, Novogorod, and Finland, of the 
ancestors and predecessors of his Majesty, with the imperial 
titles. At the corners of the ceiling will be the cipher of his 
Majesty surmounted by a crown, and surrounded by the collar 
of the Order of St. Andrew. Beneath the dais the throne will 
be raised on twelve steps, covered with crimson velvet, bordered 
with gold lace, the steps being divided into two series by a 
broader landing-place or platform. Around the throne and by 
the steps will be a low gilded balustrade, and at the top and 
bottom of the steps, gilded eagles. The throne of the Czar 

M 



162 



APPENDIX, 



John III. will be placed for the Emperor, that of the Czar 
Michael Feodorovitch for the Empress, and on the left will be 
the table for the regalia, all covered with crimson velvet and 
gold cloth, and edged with gold lace. 

On the right of these thrones will be placed that of the Czar 
Alexis Mikhailovitch, for the Empress Dowager, under a canopy 
of crimson velvet, and the curtains of cloth of gold will be 
embroidered with imperial crowns: ostrich feathers of the 
imperial colours will be at the corners. In the middle of each 
side of the vallon will be her Majesty's cipher, surrounded by 
the collar of St. Andrew, and gilded eagles will be at each 
corner. The ceiling of crimson velvet will be embroidered 
with small imperial shields, and at the comers the imperial 
ciphers, as on the vallon. 

The place which his Imperial Majesty usually occupies in the 
cathedral will be enclosed by hangings of crimson velvet, with 
gold lace, and lined with cloth of gold, strewed with imperial 
crowns. 

The two columns of the cathedral between which the throne 
stands will be draped with crimson velvet covered with golden 
eagles, to the height of the dais. 

At the other two columns, on the right side, will be the place 
appropriated to the illustrious guests, with a special access, 
guarded by a gilded balustrade. It will be covered with crimson 
velvet, as will also a somewhat lower estrade for guests of lower 
rank. 

Against the inner wall of the cathedral will be placed the 
foreign ambassadors and their ladies, the ladies of the court, and 
others, the gallery being covered with scarlet cloth, ornamented 
with gold lace and gilded fillets; the gallery for the priests and 
singers will be similarly decorated, and erected near the altar. 
"Without the church, on the side towards the belfry of Ivan 
Velikoi, will be a gallery of spectators, covered with crimson 
cloth. 



IY. 

THE CORONATION CEREMONY. 

On the eve of the day appointed for the solemnisation of the 
crowning, at four in the afternoon, on the ringing of the bells, 
a Te Dev. m will be sung in all the churches, and will be continued 
during the night. Their Majesties, with the Imperial Family, 
will attend service in the church of our Saviour, behind 
the golden gates; the prayers will be those customary at 
coronations. 



APPEXDIX. 



1G3 



On the day of the coronation, at seven in the morning, a 
signal will be given by twenty-one guns from the walls of the 
Kremlin, at the commencement of service in the Cathedral of the 
Assumption; the persons whose duty it is to do so will assem- 
ble and conduct the guests, and ambassadors and their ladies, 
to the places assigned to them in the cathedral as indicated on 
their tickets. The whole line of the procession from the throne 
room in the Alexandrofskoi Palace will be hung with tapestry, 
and the line kept by the Grenadiers of the Palace from the 
throne-room to the doors of the palace, and by various other 
troops to the doors of the cathedral, all with their flags and 
standards. Two superior officers of the Horse Guards will 
stand on the fifth step of the throne, two juniors on the 
seventh with drawn swords, and their helmets in their hands. 
At the northern and southern doors of the cathedral, and 
within it, will be placed two under-officers of the same regiment, 
with drawn swords, and their helmets in their hands. 

On the same morning the regalia will be brought from the 
Treasure Palace to the throne-room, with great ceremony, and 
will consist of the collar and star of the order of St. Andrew, 
the imperial banner, seal, sword, robes, crowns, sceptres, and 
orb, each brought on a cushion, guarded by the Grenadiers of 
the Palace, and will be received at various points by officials 
appointed for that purpose, until the procession reaches the 
throne-room of the Alexandrofskoi Palace, when the High 
Marshal will take each article and place it on the appointed 
table on the left-hand side of the throne, erecting the imperial 
standard in its appropriate socket, the whole being guarded by 
the Grenadiers of the Palace. 

In the mean time prayers will be offered up at the Cathedral, 
for the well-being of his Majesty, and the clergy will form their 
processions to accompany the Emperor and Empress, and six- 
teen staff-officers will take to the Krasnoi portico the canopy 
prepared for the Empress Dowager, made of cloth of gold sup- 
ported by gilded staves, and covered with the imperial cipher 
and crowns. 

When her Majesty is informed that the canopy is ready, she 
will proceed, wearing the crown and robes, accompanied by her 
two assistants and the heir-apparent, and those of the imperial 
family not in attendance on the Emperor and Empress, together 
with the foreign princes, and a cortege of grandees, ladies, and 
officials to the door of the cathedral, where she will be met by 
the clergy, with their crosses and holy water. 

On entering the cathedral she will take her place on the 
throne, the high personages in waiting taking their places on the 
right, and the train bearers standing behind the throne, between 
the columns. 



164 



APPEXDFX. 



When his Majesty is about to proceed to the cathedral, one of 
the proto-presbyters, with two deacons, bearing the holy water 
on a golden salver, will sprinkle the track of the procession, and 
thirty-two staff-officers will carry the canopy to the Krasnoi 
portico. The canopy is similar to that of the Empress 
Dowager's, but decorated with coloured ostrich feathers, and 
with the arms of the different kingdoms and governments. 
When the grand master of the ceremonies announces that all is 
ready, their Majesties being seated in the throne-room beneath 
the dais, the procession will form in the following order to the 
sound of trumpets and cymbals. 

A squadron of Horse Guards, with two officers, who, on 
arriving at the church, will take their places on either side of 
the porch, and, after the procession has entered, will then take 
a similar position at the north door. 

Twenty-four pages and a like number of grooms of the 
chamber, who will wait until the conclusion of the ceremony 
in the Palace of the Holy Synod. 

Two masters of ceremonies with wands, who will stand on 
the lowest step of the throne. 

A deputation of the chiefs of the crown peasants, one from 
each government ; these will be followed by similar deputations 
from the foreign merchants, the council and magistrates of the 
city, the council of manufactures, the customs, the medical 
board, the mine corps, and all the other government establish- 
ments. The greater proportion of these will wait the conclu- 
sion of the ceremony in the Palace of the Synod. 

Then follows a deputation from the Cossack army, the 
officials of the various governments and kingdoms, the chief 
officers of the senate, two masters of ceremonies with wands, the 
grand master of ceremonies with wand, two heralds, and then 
the regalia, borne as before described. A squadron of Horse 
Guards, the court marshal, the upper and chief court marshals, 
and then the Emperor and Empress, with two assistants on 
either side, and the great ministers of state. 

The canopy will be borne by sixteen generals-adjutant, having 
the rank of major-general, and the cords will be held by sixteen 
having the rank of lieutenant-general. 

Ladies of the Empress's chamber — A squadron of Horse 
Guards — the chief nobles of Russia, in threes, one of each 
three entering the cathedral — manufacturers and the chief 
merchants of Moscow in like order — a squadron of Horse 
Guards. 

When the procession sets out, all the bells will be rung, and 
during its progress the military bands will play. 

When their Majesties arrive at the church porch, the Metro- 
politan of Moscow will give them the cross to kiss, and the 



APPENDIX. 



165 



Metropolitan of Novgorod will sprinkle them with, holy water. 
On entering the church their Majesties will salute three times 
the sacred images, and will then seat themselves on the throne, 
and the priests standing on the steps of the throne will sing the 
imperial hymn — " Miser icordiam et judicium cantabo tibi, Domine" 

While their Majesties are saluting the images, the bearers of 
the regalia will place themselves in the following order : — 

The bearer of the crown will place it on the estrade of the 
throne on its table, and the smaller one will be placed on its 
table likewise. 

The sceptre-bearer will stand on the platform of the throne on 
the right. 

The orb-bearer on the left. 

The robe-bearer of the Emperor on the first step of the throne 
to the right, and that of the Empress on the left. 

The swprd-bearer on the second step to the right. 

The standard-bearer on the second step to the left. 

The bearers of the Imperial Seal of the Order of St. Andrew 
on the third step, — the first to the right, the second to the left. 

The heralds will precede the regalia, and will then range 
themselves on either side of the throne. 

The chief marshals and masters of ceremonies will accom- 
pany their Majesties to the thrones, and place themselves on 
the first platform of the steps, face to face, and the assistants 
of their Majesties will stand behind the thrones, a little in 
advance. 

The Grand Master of Ceremonies will stand on the ninth step, 
and the other Masters of Ceremonies on either side, between the 
pillars and the throne, facing each other. 

Between the right pillar and the balustrade of the throne the 
Civil Governor of Moscow with two assistants, to spread out at 
the proper time the velvet and cloth of gold. 

Between their Majesties and the regalia will stand the Minister 
of the Household, the Minister of War, and the general on 
service for the day. 

The Commander of the Horse Guards will stand between the 
thrones, a little in the rear, with his sword drawn and his helmet 
in his hand, and near him two of the highest court officials, to 
raise the ends of the robes of their Majesties, with twelve 
assistants. 

All these will be ranged on the two platforms of the throne, 
and the other officials forming part of the procession will take 
the various places assigned to them. 

The coronation will be performed in the following manner : 
The Metropolitan of Moscow will ascend to the uppermost 
step of the throne, and standing before the Emperor, will place 
before his Majesty, and require him to read, in a loud voice, so 



166 



APPENDIX. 



as to be understood by all his subjects, his profession of the 
orthodox faith. The Metropolitan then presents to his Majesty 
an open book, and the Emperor will recite the Creed. After 
which the Metropolitan will say, " Gratia Spiritus Sancti sit semper 
tecum. Amen" and descend from the throne. 

After the reading of the Gospels the Metropolitans will go up 
to the throne. The Emperor will take the ordinary star of St. 
Andrew, and give it to one of his assistants, and will direct that 
the imperial mantle with the diamond collar of the said order, 
shall be presented to him. The mantle will be presented to 
his Majesty, on two cushions, by the Metropolitans, who assist 
him to put it on ; the Metropolitan of Moscow will then say — 
"In nomine PaAris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti" — and one of the 
assistants will adjust the mantle. 

After putting on the mantle, the Emperor will bow his head, 
and the Metropolitan of Moscow, having blessed him with the 
sign of the cross, imposes his hands on the Emperor's head in 
the form of a cross, and reads the two prayers which ordinarily 
follow the ritual. 

When the prayers are finished, the Emperor orders the impe- 
rial crown to be presented to him. The functionary who has 
carried it in the procession brings it on a cushion to the Metro- 
politan, who presents it to his Majesty. The Emperor takes the 
crown from the cushion, places it on his head, and the Metro- 
politan reads a printed speech. 

The Emperor then asks for the sceptre and the globe. The 
functionaries who have carried them in the procession bring 
them on a cushion to the Metropolitan of Moscow, who presents 
them to the Emperor, and reads another speech. The Emperor 
having taken the sceptre in his right hand, and the globe in his 
left, seats himself on his throne^ and shortly afterwards lays 
down the regalia upon the cushions presented by the officials, who 
have borne them in the cortege. He calls the Empress to him, 
and she kneels before her august husband on a crimson velvet 
cushion laced with gold. The Monarch taking the crown off 
his head, touches the Empress's head with it, and then replaces 
it on his own. 

The small crown is then presented to the Emperor, who 
places it on the head of the Empress, and the four ladies of 
honour approach and adjust it. 

The imperial mantle with the collar of the order of St. 
Andrew, is then presented to the Emperor to put on the 
Empress, and it is adjusted by the ladies of honour. 

The Emperor resumes the sceptre and globe ; the Archdeacon 
proclaims all the imperial titles, and intones these lines : — 
" Domine salvum fac Imperatorem et Domine salvam fac Im- 
peratricem." The choir three times repeat — "Ad muitos annos." 



APPENDIX. 



167 



During the singing, the bells of all the churches will ring, and 
a salvo of 101 guns will be fired. 

Daring this time the clergy, as well as all the assistants of both 
sexes, present their felicitations to the Emperor, bowing three 
times without quitting their places. The Empresses and the 
members of the august family also present their felicitations to 
his Majesty. Their imperial highnesses for this purpose ascend 
the throne. 

When the ringing and salutes are ended, his Majesty, laying 
aside the sceptre and orb, will rise from his throne, and, kneel- 
ing, will read from a book given to him by the Metropolitan the 
appropriate prayers, the Metropolitan reading the same prayers, 
and all the assembly remaining on their knees until the Emperor 
rises. 

After the prayers, the Metropolitan will make a short discourse 
to his Majesty, and the choir will sing a TeDeum; the bells 
will then be rung and the holy liturgy commenced, the Emperor 
giving his crown to the bearer, and, at the end of the liturgy, 
replaces it on his head. 

At the reading of the gospels, the holy book is presented to 
their Majesties, who kiss it. 

At the beginning of the anthem, the Governor of Moscow and 
his assistants will lay down the velvet and cloth of gold from 
the throne to the altar, the Archdeacon laying down the end at 
tne altar for their Majesties to walk on. 

At the end of the anthem, when the royal gate of the altar 
is opened, two arch-priests and the Archdeacon will announce to 
his Majesty that the time is come for him to be anointed. Then 
the Emperor, in his robes, with his assistants, and followed by 
the Empress, will approach the royal gate, the bearers of the 
regalia, and other officials, attending on either side. 

The Emperor will stand upon the cloth of gold and the Em- 
press between the throne and the steps of the altar. Around 
them will stand the Minister of the Household, the Minister of 
War, the Adjutant-General on duty, and the Commander of the 
Horse Guard with drawn swords ; near them the bearers of the 
regalia with two senior officers of the Hor?e Guard near the 
commencement of the steps, with other officials in a semi- 
circle. 

The Metropolitan of Moscow, taking the jewelled vase with 
the holy oil, will anoint the forehead of his Majesty, his eyes, 
nostrils, lips, chest, and hands, saying, " Impressio cloni Spiritm 
Sancti" and the Metropolitans of Novogorod and St. Petersburg 
will wipe the traces of the chrism. 

At the conclusion of the anointing, the bells will be rung, and 
a salute of 101 guns fired. The Emperor will then stand on the 
right ride by the image of the Saviour, and the Empress will be 



168 



APPENDIX. 



anointed in the same manner, and will then stand on the left 
side by the image of the "Virgin. 

The Metropolitan of Moscow will then lead the Emperor 
through the royal gate, within the altar screen, the other 
officiating prelates holding up the end of his robe. His Majesty, 
standing near the holy table, on the cloth of gold, will receive 
the sacrament, and after receiving the Lord's Supper, an arch- 
priest will bring the consecrated bread and the taper, and 
another will touch his mouth and hands therewith. 

The Emperor will then return to the image of the Saviour, 
and the Empress will approach the royal gate,* and will in like 
manner receive the sacrament, and their Majesties will then 
return to the throne. At the end of the liturgy, all the officials 
will go out at the north door and take their places, and during 
that time the priests will read prayers before their Majesties, 
and, at the end, the Archdeacon will again pray for their long 
life, and the singers will sing "Ad midtos annos." 

Finally, the sacred cross will be presented to their Majesties 
to kiss ; and the Emperor, placing the crown on his head, and 
with the sceptre and orb in his hands, will receive three accla- 
mations for the happy conclusion of his coronation and anointing. 

Then the Empress Dowager, the Imperial Family, and the 
foreign Ambassadors, will go out by the south doors of the 
cathedral, and return to the palace in the same order as they 
arrived : but the Emperor and Empress will go by the north 
door, along a scarlet cloth, to the cathedral of the Archangels, 
under a canopy, entering it by the western door. Their Majesties 
will here kiss the sacred images, and salute the tombs of their 
ancestors, which being done, all shall wish them long life. In 
like manner they will visit the Cathedral of the Annunciation, 
the arch-priests receiving them at each cathedral with the cross 
and with holy water. 

Throughout the procession the Emperor will bear the crown, 
sceptre, and orb, giving them to the bearers, when he kisses the 
sacred images. During the procession the bells will ring, and 
101 guns be fired, and the military bands will play. 

On the arrival of their Majesties at the Krasuoi portico, all in 
the procession, except the court officers, will remain without, 
and form in the same order to accompany their Majesties to the 
banquet in the Granovitaya Palace. 

THE BANQUET AT THE GRAKOYITAYA PALACE. 

When the Arch-Marshal announces that the banquet is ready, 
the Emperor and Empress with their suite, and the imperial 
family with the foreign ambassadors and their ladies, will pro- 
* Females are not allowed to pass under this gate. 



APPENDIX. 



169 



ceed to the Granovitaya Palace, the lines being kept by the 
Grenadiers of the Court. 

The members of the council, the clergy, and other guests 
invited to the banquet, will stand at their places at table, the 
ladies on the left, the other guests on the right. 

Their Majesties will ascend the throne, where a table of three 
covers will be prepared under a canopy — that for the Emperor 
in the middle, with the Empress Dowager on his right hand, 
and the Empress on his left. By the throne will stand the 
great officers of state, near them the great carver and the 
chief butlers — below the throne will stand four officers of 
Horse Guards with drawn swords, and two heralds near the 
throne. 

Then the Minister of Finance will present the Empress with 
the coronation medals which will then be distributed. 

The table for the imperial family and foreign princes will be 
laid in the " Tainik," or private apartment. 

At the command of his Majesty, the Chief Marshal and other 
officers will bring in the dishes, assisted by staff officers, and 
they will be placed on the table by the Great Marshal and the 
Marshal. 

When the banquet is brought in, his Majesty will remove his 
crown, and give it, with the sceptre and orb, to the bearers, who 
will place them on tables prepared for them. 

The Metropolitan will bless the tables, and their Majesties 
will sit down. 

After the first dish, when his Majesty asks for drink, the clergy 
and other guests will bow, and sit down at their tables. The 
foreign ambassadors and their suites, and all those who do not 
remain to the dinner, will leave, and go to the various places 
appointed for them to dine in the Kremlin. 

At tables, healths will be drunk to — 

The Emperor, with a salute of sixty-one guns. 

The Empress Dowager, with a salute of fifty-one guns. 

The Empress, with a salute of fifty-one guns. 

The Imperial Family, with a salute of thirty-one guns. 

The Clergy and all faithful subjects, with a salute of twenty - 
one guns. 

The cups will be handed by the chief butler and his assistants, 
the toasts given with flourishes of trumpets, and there will be 
vocal and instrumental music during the dinner. 

After the banquet, the Emperor and the two Empresses will 
retire to the inner apartments with the same attendance. 

On the day following the coronation there will be a dinner for 
the clergy, and first two classes of the guests. 

On an appointed day and hour their Majesties will receive, 
in the throne-room, the congratulations of the Synod, the 



170 



APPENDIX. 



ministers, and other bodies in the state, and of the ladies, at an 
early period. 

After the coronation will be given : 

A ball at the Granovitaya Palace, 

A grand theatrical spectacle, 

A ball in the Alexandrovsky Hall, 

Festins and amnsements for the people, 

A masquerade and supper at the palace, 

Fireworks. 

The first three days after the coronation there will be ringing 
of bells and illuminations. 

On one of the days medals will be distributed to the people 
at twenty churches. 



DECORATION OF THE HALL CALLED GRANOVITAIA PALATA. 

The column supporting the vault of the hall is adorned with 
ancient vases and salvers of gold and silver. 

The walls are hung with crimson velvet, studded with 
imperial eagles ; above the windows all the arms of the imperial 
title, surrounded with trophies ; between the lower windows, 
on the wall, candelabra of gilt bronze, representing double- 
headed eagles ; the floor is covered with scarlet cloth. 

The imperial throne, raised on three steps, is adorned in the 
following manner : — A dais, with a lofty canopy of gold cloth 
sown with imperial eagles, and hanging over the imperial 
mantle lined with ermine, having in the centre a shield bearing 
the little arms of the empire, surrounded with a gilt border, 
and adorned with the initials of his Majesty the Emperor. The 
canopy of the dais is surmounted by a crown, placed on a gold 
cushion, fringed, and with tassels in the colours of the empire. 
This shield, adorned with his Majesty's initials, has on each side 
a smaller shield with the same initials, surrounded by the collar 
of the order of St. Andrew, and adorned with military appen- 
dages. At each corner of the cornice, a plume of ostrich feathers 
in the colours of the empire ; the fringes and tassels of the dais 
are also in the colours of the empire. 

The platform and steps of the throne are covered with 
crimson velvet trimmed with gold lace, and at each of the front 
angles an ancient silver vase is placed on a pedestal. 

On the platform of the throne, under the dais, on the spot 
usually occupied by the imperial thrones, are placed the three 
ancient thrones, brought for this occasion from the Cathedral of 
the Assumption. 

Between the imperial throne and the window to the left of the 
throne, a table for bearing the crown, sceptre, and globe ; this 



APPENDIX. 



171 



table is covered with crimson velvet trimmed with gold lace, 
and over the velvet is spread a cloth of gold similarly trimmed 
with gold lace. 

At some distance from the throne tables are spread for the 
persons invited to the banquet. 

To the left of the door of entrance there has been fitted up 
for the orchestra a balcony hung with crimson gold-fringed 
velvet, and to the right the buffet for refreshments, which is 
covered with silver plate. 



THE END. 



BRiDBURY AND EVANS, FRINTER3, WHITEFRIARS. 



31+77-7 



V 



